


shadow preachers

by wintersend



Series: rebelcaptain exchanges [6]
Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Hunters, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Mutual Pining, NEXT PART COMING VERY SOON, Pocket Slowburn, Sharing a Bed, Temporary Character Death, Time Skips, Time Travel, a bit of it at least, bodhi knows like a solid two years before these two do, i can't write action for shit so forgive me for that, there's an overarching plot if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:02:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 22,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28410603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wintersend/pseuds/wintersend
Summary: Jyn doesn’t like other hunters, and there’s a good reason for that. She doesn't trust other people, preferring to work alone, a lone wolf by nature. Cassian Andor is no exception to that rule. But they keep running into each other - and he keeps surprising her.OR, Jyn and Cassian are monster hunters who save a couple of people and manage to save each other along the way
Relationships: Cassian Andor/Jyn Erso, Jyn Erso & Bodhi Rook
Series: rebelcaptain exchanges [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1588411
Comments: 52
Kudos: 98
Collections: The RebelCaptain Network Secret Santa Exchange





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Moonprincess92](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonprincess92/gifts).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my Secret Santa fic for moonprincess92 who asked for a modern au with some enemies to friends to lovers, a prompt very close to my own heart. Granted, it's a bit more rivals than enemies, but I hope you'll like it. I also tried to incorporate some of the tropes you mentioned liking. Though it's less a case fic and more a 'several cases' fic. (Also, I drew inspiration very heavily from Supernatural, which I'm sure will be obvious to anyone familiar with the show, but I also mess with the monster lore to suit my needs so it's not exactly a clear-cut AU.)
> 
> Another thing, I didn’t want to make this too violent but it _is_ about killing monsters so some violence was unavoidable. I tried really hard not to make anything graphic and I think I succeeded, but here's some content warning anyway: mention of blood, knives, guns, shooting someone in the head, needles, sewing up someone's wound, spousal homicide, cutting off someone's head.
> 
> And on that cheerful note, happy holidays everyone!

**2016 DECEMBER**

Jyn doesn’t like other hunters, and there’s a good reason for that. They’re either violent bastards obsessed with revenge, or the job has turned them cold and cynical and calculating in a way that’s not entirely human anymore. Sometimes, they’re no better than the things they hunt.

And she should know, she’s a little bit of both. That’s why she prefers to work alone, a lone wolf by nature. She doesn’t trust other people. (Except Bodhi – but he’s family, not other people. And most of the time, he prefers to stay in the background, handling the paperwork, so she hunts alone.)

She can’t remember the last time she met a hunter she actually respected. If ever.

That explains why her first meeting with Cassian Andor is rocky at best. Looking back, she remembers thinking that he belonged to the second category – so jaded that he’s barely a person anymore. Nothing to write home about. Except maybe the part where he saves her life.

But he’s the one barging in on _her_ case, and she’s not very appreciative of that. Turns out they’re looking for the same nest of vampires in a small town of Minnesota so she humors him at first, discussing the case (she might not trust other hunters but she’s not a total _douche_ ) but tells him to fuck off when he offers to help. She was here first and she called dibs.

Okay, so she doesn’t tell him to _fuck off._ Again, not a total douche. But she makes it clear, on no uncertain terms, that she doesn’t need a partner.

Besides, no offense to him and all, but he seems a little tense, and she doesn’t think they’d get along. They only spend one afternoon together but Jyn is an excellent judge of character (you kind of have to be, in this line of work) and she can tell he doesn’t like to relinquish control. Under normal circumstances, she might be interested in unwinding him a bit (he’s fairly attractive, to be honest), get him to loosen up if only for a night, but he’s a hunter and she never fucks other hunters. The last thing she needs is some stickler for the rules stuck-up asshole telling her how to do her job.

She declines.

“So do I,” he replies when she tells him that she works alone. “But we’re both here anyway, and two sets of hands could kill twice as many vampires.”

Jyn purses her lips, pretends to consider it. “No.”

“I could help.”

“What, you think a woman can’t do this on her own?”

He narrows his eyes, a hint of frustration on his face. Really, she’s just hackling him, but good to see it’s working.

“That’s not what I said.”

“Then let me do it on my own.”

Cassian considers her a second, almost like he’s trying to decide whether she’s stubborn or unreasonable. (Hint: she’s both.) Then his face smooths over, shrugging.

“Suit yourself.”

Before he leaves, he turns back at the door, throws her one last look of disdain. “People are right about you, you know. You really are Saw Gerrera’s daughter.”

* * *

Jyn strolls into the nest – an abandoned farmhouse – in the middle of the day and throws open the curtains. The sun doesn’t kill them but it hurts, and she likes those odds. Always better to fight a vampire in the daylight. She takes out five of them, and the one remaining scampers and hides. She’s a little sick in the head but it’s a powerful feeling. She’s damn good at her job – who says she can’t do this alone?

But she gets a little impatient with the disappearing act – aren’t vampires supposed to be _fearsome_? Or at least brave. Damn thing can’t even come out and die with dignity like his siblings. So she rolls up her sleeves and slices her forearm with a pocketknife.

“Come on!” she shouts, blood dripping down her arm. Warm, red, and delicious – for the vamp, at least. “I’m your type, baby. Come get me.”

What she doesn’t count on is the _backup_. She thought – and Cassian thought – that there were only six of them living in this nest. Vampires don’t travel in huge packs, they aren’t the type. Lonely creatures, like herself.

But they must have miscalculated something because they show up alright. Only three – but it’s three more than she was counting on, and it’s enough to turn the odds in their favor. The son of a bitch wasn’t hiding, he was waiting.

Still, she’s not some damsel in distress, she doesn’t need to be rescued. So what if they have her tied up and cornered? So what if the vamp who’d been hiding has her head tilted back and his fangs out, ready to sink them into her neck and drink her for dinner? _She’s handling it._

She’s gonna tell that to Cassian too, just as soon as he’s done staking those vampires and unties her hands.

Before he finishes off the one that tried to eat her, she gives him a nasty grin and tells him, “You’re not the only one who had backup.”

She thinks she sees Cassian throw her a glare.

He unties her hands as soon as the last of them is dead on the floor, and she stands up, rubbing her wrists.

“Well, that was fun.”

Cassian still seems pissed. “Maybe it’s a good thing I was here, huh?”

“Hey, I would have figured out something.”

“Yeah,” he nods, and she has to hand it to him, it’s impressive that he doesn’t actually roll his eyes because he seems like he wants to. She has that effect on people. “It sure looked like that from where I was standing.”

“Alright, Mr. Big Strong Man.” She puts her hands on her hips, tilting her head at him. “Have you never been in a tight spot before?”

“No, not like this.”

 _She_ does roll her eyes.

“And stop using that as an excuse,” he continues. He takes out a handkerchief from his pocket and begins to wipe down the blood from his stake. “I don’t care that you’re a woman, and neither should anyone else. You’re an incredible hunter, Jyn. But stupid mistakes are what get you killed.”

She frowns at him, a little taken aback by the offhanded compliment. She wants to point out that he thought there were only six of them too, but instead, she asks, “Why do you care?”

“I know your brother,” he says simply. But there’s something in his tone… He puts away his stake and heads towards the door. “It’d be a shame if he lost you.”

* * *

(Later, Jyn calls Bodhi before she skips town.

“Cassian Andor?” he asks, surprised. “Yeah, I know him. Good guy.”

She rolls her eyes, grateful he can’t see her. Bodhi thinks everyone is a good guy.

Of course, he also knows her too well.

“Don’t roll your eyes at me, he really is.” There’s a pause, unsure, before he adds. “One of Draven’s kids, actually. His family was killed by vampires.”

 _Oh,_ she thinks, her stomach churning. She quickly hangs up the phone after that.)

* * *

**2017 MARCH**

Three months later, Jyn is after a demon who got a little too crazy on the coast of California, but she has help this time. Bodhi has opted to join her – but only after Jyn told him he should, no room for argument in her voice. She likes to make sure he accompanies her on a hunt every now and then, just to keep him in shape.

Sure, he prefers to stay behind most of the time but life is unpredictable, and monsters don’t like hunters, even if they’re just doing research. He should know how to protect himself, in case she wasn’t there to protect him.

When she runs into Cassian interviewing one of the witnesses who saw the demon, she’s a little peeved. America is a big country. Lots of monsters, lots of supernatural activity. What are the fucking chances?

He looks up as she steps inside the small diner, the bell above the door announcing her presence, but his face remains impassive. She’s not sure if he’s truly unsurprised to see her here, or just that good at hiding it. Either way, she jabs her thumb towards the parking lot and gives him a loaded look. He contemplates her for a second, then turns back to the witness and says something quickly before standing up.

She rounds on him outside, arms crossed.

“You again,” she says. Her tone makes it clear how she feels about meeting him here.

He’s not affected by her hostility. “Afraid so.”

“What, are you stalking me?”

“Don’t flatter yourself. I’m working.” He gives her a look, gesturing towards her official outfit, the stupid suit that she hates. “So are you, I suppose. Are we gonna have a problem again?”

“Well –”

“Because before you start, I was here first this time. So.”

She purses her lips. Well, fuck.

“So you want me gone,” she says, a statement rather than a question. Already, she’s thinking about how she could dodge him. It’s not that she cares about the case so much, it’s just _principles_. Plus, it’s not like he left last time either – and good thing, too, because he did practically save her life, not that she’d ever admit that to anyone.

But Cassian shakes his head. “No, Jyn, that’s your whim. If you want in, that’s fine by me.”

She squints at him, confused. “You know, for a self-proclaimed lone wolf, you’re not really living up to your reputation.”

He looks up at the sky for a second, a sigh on his lips. “We both know you’re not gonna leave anyway. What’s the point? Might as well get something out of it.”

She considers him for a second before slowly nodding her head a couple of times.

“Fine. But if you screw me over, I’ll screw you over.”

He rolls his eyes but nods. “Sure.”

“And don’t die.”

“You worried about me?”

She scoffs. “No. It would just be a pain in the ass to bury you.”

Cassian’s lips twitch. “That’s real sweet of you.”

“Also, I should warn you,” she adds, uncrossing her arms, “I didn’t come alone this time.”

* * *

Bodhi is excited. He and Cassian greet each other like old friends, then he beams at her and tells her he’s proud of her for letting someone else in on a case. Which, _embarrassing_. Jyn tries not to blush as Cassian, the bastard, gives her a somewhat mocking smile in the background.

The truth is, Bodhi’s been pushing her to make more friends, especially lately. He’s worried about her mental state and lack of meaningful connections. Or something. It’s nice of him and all, but Jyn doesn’t need a shrink or friends. It’s not like it’d work anyway, because again, she doesn’t like other hunters, and she doesn’t have a lifestyle that allows for any other friends. She spends most of her life on the road. Not a lot of opportunities to make long-lasting connections.

Still, it’s always nice to see Bodhi smile, and as uncomfortable as she is with public displays of human emotion, she can’t deny that it’s nice to hear the words _“I’m proud of you.”_ (Not something she’s heard in her life a lot, but that’s a can of worms she’s not willing to open right now.) So what the hell, she can humor him this one time.

“Hey,” she says to Cassian before they head out. “Just let him take the lead, okay?”

He squints at her. “Why?”

She rolls her eyes, looking away. He has to question everything, doesn’t he? He can’t just take her for her word. No, everything has to be difficult with Cassian Andor.

She stares ahead, a bit uncomfortable as she tells him, “Bodhi doesn’t hunt much. But I need him to know how to protect himself.” She looks at him then, finding his gaze and hoping he understands. “I’ll be there if I need to step in. Just let him handle it.”

* * *

It all goes to shit quicker than she can blink. The abandoned building was supposed to be a trap for the demon – Jyn as the bait, Cassian as the backup, and Bodhi, the main actor for once – but it ends up being a trap for them instead. The evil son of a bitch is smart, probably snuffed them out from the moment they stepped into town. He catches her off-guard, messes up their plan, and Bodhi rushes in to help even as Cassian yells at him to stop.

It’s a mistake, of course. The demon has Bodhi pressed against his chest in a second and a knife against his throat. Cassian aims his gun at the demon’s head, but it has the upper hand and they all know it.

“Give me back my brother, you son of a bitch,” she spits at the thing. It’s currently wearing a middle-aged balding man’s body but his eyes are pitch black. He laughs at her, the sound inhuman, void of anything but hatred.

“Tell you what, because you asked so nicely, I might consider it.” Jyn doesn’t let herself hope, knowing there’s a catch. “If… you let me kill you.”

“What?”

“You let me kill you and I’ll let your brother go unharmed. Scout’s honor.”

 _Sure,_ Jyn thinks. _And I’m the English queen._

“If not,” the demon pauses, shrugging. “I guess I’ll kill him then.”

Jyn tenses, heartbeat picking up. She knows the bastard isn’t kidding. He’ll slit Bodhi’s throat without a problem, without blinking. But if she agrees…

Jyn catches Cassian’s eyes behind the demon’s back. _Let me take the shot,_ his eyes seem to say, and if this was anyone else, she’d agree that it’s their best option. But it’s _Bodhi_. And fuck, she doesn’t trust that Cassian will be faster. She doesn’t know him.

She can’t risk it.

But if she offers herself up, then maybe…

“So what will it be, you or him?” the demon asks, and Jyn nods.

“Fine. Me.”

As she says the words, Jyn sees Cassian’s hand tighten on his gun and she knows he’s made up his mind anyway. Before she could do anything, he pulls the trigger.

It happens so fast; Jyn watches the demon stumble as the bullet hits him in the skull, collapsing in a heap on the floor, Bodhi gasping and pulling away – _unharmed_.

“How about neither?” Cassian says, looking at the body on the ground.

Jyn is torn between feeling relieved, impressed, incredulous, and fucking _furious_.

“What the fuck?!”

“He’s fine,” Cassian says, holstering his gun. Bodhi blinks, still a little shell-shocked, and Jyn gapes at Cassian. _The nerve of him._

She never should have allowed him to come with them, this is why she doesn’t work with other hunters, she should have just stuck to her damn instincts –

“You risked his life! The demon could have stabbed him.”

“But he didn’t.” Cassian looks up at her, his expression dead calm. “I knew what I was doing.”

She scoffs. “You’re arrogant, is what you are. It will get someone killed someday.”

He doesn’t answer to that, just gives her a long inscrutable look, then turns to Bodhi.

“I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Thanks, Cassian.”

He glances towards Jyn again and nods. “I’ll see you around,” he tells them before he moves towards the door.

Her blood boiling, she shouts after him, “Yeah, sure, don’t help us with the body or anything!”

He doesn’t stop walking but he turns his head a little, his tone matter-of-fact. “I don’t think you want me around right now.”

 _Whatever._ Jyn turns back to Bodhi instead who, still shaking a little, gives her a sheepish grin.

“So? He’s not so bad, right?”

Jyn shoots him an incredulous look. “He’s an asshole.”

“Happy to be of service,” Cassian says from the doorway. Then he’s gone.

Bodhi’s still smiling, and because her heart hasn’t stopped racing and she almost lost him, she pulls him into a hug. Who cares about Cassian Andor? She has her brother and that’s all that matters.

* * *

**2017 JULY**

Jyn is on bed rest after she sprains her ankle on a ghost hunt. Nothing serious – she can still walk with a limp – but Bodhi insists that she stays off her feet for a few days. She agrees because, frankly speaking, she still feels kinda bad for what happened in California.

The worst part, though, is when Bodhi announces that he’s found possible evidence of a wendigo in town, and since Jyn can’t take care of it at the moment, he’s passing on the job to another hunter who’ll be dropping by later.

“Who?” Jyn frowns, shifting in her place on the couch. She knows she can’t take care of this with her bad ankle but she hates the idea of another hunter in _her_ town, much less in her house. “It better not be Boba Fett or I –”

“Of course not.” Bodhi rolls his eyes, throwing her a somewhat offended look. “It’s Cassian.”

“Ugh. Not Cassian.”

But she supposes if it had to be anyone…

Well, better him than some of the others.

“Don’t be like that. He’s the best hunter I know.” Jyn glares at him. “After you, of course,” he adds hastily. Then he gives her a strange look. “Why do you hate him so much?”

She shrugs. “I hate everyone.”

“Yeah, but… He saved us last time. And the time before that.”

Yeah. Exactly what she wants to be reminded of.

“I don’t need to be saved! And besides, he’s so uptight. I mean, what crawled up his ass and died there?”

“Hi.”

Jyn closes her eyes slowly. _Of fucking course._ Turning her head, she comes face to face with Cassian Andor, his face stoic as ever.

“Bodhi said to come right in.”

Jyn turns to Bodhi who gives her a sheepish grin.

She really hates them both.

* * *

Jyn listens to the two men discussing the case, starting with the suspicious bodies, the locations, and the potential witnesses. She interjects a comment here and there, mostly snarky, sometimes helpful, but Bodhi is used to her by now, and Cassian takes it all in good sport, so no one is really bothered by her attitude.

She knows she’s being a bit of a bitch but she hates being benched, hates it even more when it’s her town being threatened, and she hates it the most that she knows Bodhi is right: Cassian is the best man for this job after her.

With her bad leg, her only weapon left is her tongue so she makes the most of it.

“Alright,” Bodhi says when they’re finished. “Good luck, Cassian.”

“He doesn’t need it,” Jyn says with a mean smirk, shooting Cassian a look. “He _knows what he’s doing._ ”

Cassian’s lips almost twitch.

“Fuck you, Jyn.”

“Fuck you too,” she snipes back without any real heat. His dark eyes burn a hole through her temple but she refuses to back down. After several long seconds, Bodhi clears his throat and gives them an awkward look.

Jyn blinks, turning her gaze back to her brother.

“Call us if you need anything,” he tells Cassian. “And you can use the guest bedroom if you need it.”

Cassian gives him a smile – a genuine one. She didn’t think him capable of it. “Thanks, Bodhi. I will.”

* * *

He doesn’t come back for the guest bedroom though – not until three days later when he drags himself through the back door into the kitchen. Jyn wakes to the sound of someone rummaging downstairs and carefully creeps towards the kitchen, her knife in hand. Her ankle is better – though she’s still limping a little, she’s not gonna let that stop her from handling a potential intruder.

But when she rounds the corner, she comes face to face with Cassian, looking pale and a bit wobbly. Jyn gives him a quick once-over – his left side is bloody, his forehead a little sweaty, his hands gripping the counter. A band-aid kit sits on the table and Jyn’s heart squeezes at the sight. He’s hurt; she can’t tell how badly but it’s a strangely unsettling thought.

“Sorry,” Cassian says, taking in her wide eyes and her hands gripping the knife. “I didn’t wanna wake anyone.”

“You’re hurt,” she says. _Nice job stating the obvious, idiot._

“It’s not that bad,” he says, but he winces as he leans forward to grab the gauze from the kit. “I took care of the wendigo but it grazed me a bit.”

“Grazed, huh?” Jyn raises her eyebrows, unconvinced. Then, because she hates to see him struggling and he did save her life that first time, she grabs the kit and drags it towards her. “Let me.”

“It’s fine –”

“Shut up,” she tells him, her tone curt and leaving no room for argument. Cassian stares at her for a long second before nodding, lifting his shirt up to show her his wound. Deep, but not too life-threatening. It’ll need stitches though.

Jyn begins to clean the wound, and because she can’t stand the dead silence of the night around them, with Cassian’s dark eyes staring down at her and his skin hot under her hand, she speaks up.

“Tell me something,” she begins, “did you really know that you’d be able to pull off that move in California? Kill the demon before it kills Bodhi?”

He doesn’t say anything at first but she feels his gaze on her as she works, like he’s trying to decide how honest he should be. She raises her eyes for a second, challenging.

“I’m a good shot. The odds were about 85%.”

Jyn’s lips twitch, trying not to grimace. Her voice is carefully detached.

“Odds, huh.”

“I do what I have to do, Jyn.”

She looks up at him again, fire in her eyes.

“Is that how you justify it? It’s about saving people, not hunting monsters.”

She holds his gaze, waiting for him to say something, disagree, rationalize it, defend himself. He doesn’t. Though he never shies away from her stare, he keeps quiet and Jyn eventually turns back to what she’s doing.

Once she’s pulled out the needle and thread, he speaks up.

“There was this girl I once liked.”

Jyn looks up, surprised, unsure where this is going. “… Oookay?”

“I was fifteen, it was first love, puppy love. She was another hunter – or rather, another kid Draven was training to be a hunter. He had this thing of collecting orphans.”

So she’s heard. Jyn knows of Davits Draven, of course, a skilled hunter until a monster fucked up his kneecaps. Now he just handles paperwork, mostly. But in his primetime, he’d been just as big of a name as her own mentor, Saw Gerrera.

“We weren’t supposed to make connections, let alone with each other, but you know teenagers. It never stopped anybody.” Cassian chuckles, shaking his head. She puts the needle to his skin and his lips twitch but no noise escapes him. Jyn listens in silence.

“Anyway. We were hunting a werewolf, me and her and two other kids. Long story short, it was a trap. She was… turned. He wanted to turn us all, she was just the first. I managed to cut through my ropes but it was too late for her. We were just running at that point, not fighting. She was still herself though, you know it takes a while… We took her with us but I knew we couldn’t take her back to Draven. He’d put a knife through her heart without hesitation and I… I don’t know what the fuck I was thinking. That maybe she’d be different? That she would control herself? That she’d be the exception?”

Cassian laughs, the sound bitter. She wants to look up, see his face, what he looks like when he allows himself to feel something. But she’s too afraid, or perhaps too uncomfortable. She keeps her eyes on the task at hand but the pit in her stomach keeps growing.

“Needless to say, she wasn’t. She had to be put down four days later after a rather… violent carnage. I couldn’t kill her and seven others paid the price. She wasn’t herself anymore. Hunting her _was_ saving her.”

It takes her a moment to react. Sure, everyone has their sob stories, the family members or friends they lost, the innocents they couldn’t save, but she sure as hell didn’t expect Cassian Andor to speak about it so openly. It’s a gesture of trust that she’s not sure what to do with it.

So naturally, she tries to downplay it.

“So that’s why you’re such a stickler for the rules,” she says, giving him a tiny smirk. “I couldn’t figure out why you were so uptight about it.”

Cassian scoffs, but it’s good-natured. He allows her to change the topic, though he seems a little disappointed. “Don’t psychoanalyze me.”

“Whatever. Every situation is different. We have to try to save as many people as we can.”

“I agree with that. I just learned my lesson about not letting anyone get away.”

And she’s finished. Putting away the needle and thread, she turns back to him, finally at eye level.

“There you go, all fixed up. You should probably take it easy for a few days, we don’t want you ripping your stitches.”

“I know, Jyn, do you think this is the first time I had them?”

She rolls her eyes. “ _You’re welcome_. You know where the guestroom is?”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

She gives him a small nod and turns to head back to her own room. Pausing at the doorway, she lingers for a second before she makes up her mind and turns back.

She doesn’t even know why, but she finds his gaze and tells him, “You know it wasn’t your fault, right? You were just a kid.”

He smiles, the shape of it bittersweet. “That’s the thing, I wasn’t. I never was. Not when you’re raised by hunters.”

_Tell me about it._

“You didn’t deserve that.”

“I thought you hated me.”

She shrugs, dropping his gaze. Something about the moment feels a bit too… intimate, and her skin begins to itch.

“Nobody deserves that.”

The next morning, he’s gone before she wakes up.

* * *

**2017 NOVEMBER**

Thanksgiving is always an event at Bodhi’s. He likes the holidays so he likes to get everyone together, at least once a year, and make them eat as much stuffed turkey as they can bear. Christmas is a smaller affair but Thanksgiving? Thanksgiving is the day when everyone Bodhi knows and even moderately likes is here. Chirrut and Baze with their daughter, the Han-Luke-Leia trio, Chewie, Melshi, Tonc, Antilles, the Damerons, even Lando Calrissian.

And – apparently, this year, Cassian Andor too.

When Jyn opens the door – because of course, she’s the one opening the door – she can’t stop her face from showing the surprise she feels. It’s almost like she forgot about his existence for the past couple of months – or tried really, really hard to – and being confronted with it so suddenly is like a bucket of ice water on her head.

“ _Amazing_ ,” she mutters under her breath, cursing Bodhi for not mentioning it.

“Nice to see you too.”

Jyn grimaces. She didn’t mean to be a bitch, it’s just… She isn’t sure where she stands with him after last time. All she knows is that she didn’t expect to see him today, and she really would have appreciated the extra time to prepare because standing there under his watchful gaze makes her uncomfortable. And it shouldn’t. He’s just looking at her. Not angry, not upset, not even searching. There’s nothing special about the way he looks at her and it really shouldn’t make her feel as on edge as it does.

“Sorry,” she begins, surprising herself by apologizing. “It’s just – holidays don’t seem like your thing.”

“They’re not,” announces another voice, and for the first time, Jyn notices that Cassian isn’t alone. A tall, blonde, kind of square-faced man stands behind him, measuring her with a very… methodical look. If it’s possible, his expression is even more blank than Cassian’s.

 _God,_ she thinks. _The robot twins are here. Let the fun begin._

“Who’s your friend?”

Cassian opens his mouth, lifting a hand towards the man, but he’s faster.

“My name is Kay Tuesso the Second, but you may just call me Kay. And you must be Jyn Erso, Bodhi Rook’s annoyingly stubborn and reckless adoptive sister.”

She blinks, a bit taken aback. _Annoyingly stubborn and reckless?_

“Cassian has told me all about you.”

At that, Cassian shoots him a nasty look, but before she even has time to be surprised over _that_ , Kay continues.

“Are you going to make us stand out here in the cold for much longer?”

 _I should_ , Jyn glowers but opens the door for them wider and steps aside. As Cassian passes her, she grumbles at him, “So glad you brought him,” and he throws her a small apologetic smile.

“Happy Thanksgiving,” he says with fake cheer, and her lips twitch at the corners. Why is he so hard to hate?

In the kitchen, Jyn has the chance to corner Bodhi for a moment. She puts her hands on her hips, expression stern.

“You didn’t tell me Cassian was coming.”

He lifts a shoulder in response, but he’s trying too hard to look innocent and she knows it was on purpose.

“I thought you got over your ‘hatred’ for him.”

“I did. And don’t use air quotes.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“The problem… is…” Jyn trails off, unsure how to articulate it.

“Yes?” He waits patiently and she knows if she says anything, he’ll win. _Dammit._

She throws her hands in the air and turns around. “Aargh.”

She swears she can hear Bodhi chuckling as she leaves.

* * *

“Auntie Jyn,” says Kaia, Baze and Chirrut’s daughter during dinner, “why didn’t you sleep home last night?”

Of course, she means home as in here – Baze and Chirrut always come to stay for the full weekend, the only family Jyn and Bodhi have besides each other. Jyn doesn’t usually go out on nights like that, but they went to sleep early, tired from the long drive, and she was feeling a bit restless so she figured what the hell? No one would miss her until the morning.

But apparently, someone did.

Everyone turns to look at her and Jyn blinks.

“You’ll understand when you’re older,” she assures the little girl. Baze lifts his gaze to give her a blank stare while Chirrut grins cheekily next to him, and Jyn hastily adds, “Or not.”

Kaia considers that for a second, then nods. “I hope so. When I grow up, I wanna be just like you.”

Jyn laughs at that. That’s really sweet, but, “No, you don’t.”

She takes a sip of her water to avoid looking at anyone, suddenly uncomfortable by the attention. Cassian still catches her gaze across the table, and her heart jumps as their eyes meet. He looks at her like he can see right through her soul, like he knows every thought she’s ever had, like he… _understands_. She isn’t sure what to make of that, but the conversation shifts and Jyn looks away. Cassian Andor’s dark eyes remain burned into her memory, though.

* * *

The party is dying down when Cassian finds her outside with a beer in her hand, gazing at the stars.

“Hey,” he says, heading towards her. “We’re leaving.”

She nods once, looking back at the sky.

“Do you see that?”

He follows her gaze, squinting. “Uh… what?”

“The Lyra. Right there.” She points, though she figures it doesn’t help much. “It’s shaped like a… small, lopsided square. It’s supposed to be Orpheus’ harp.”

Cassian pulls his eyes back to her.

“You know constellations?” he asks, surprise in his voice.

“A few. My dad taught me. Can’t remember most of them though.”

“Still, that’s pretty cool. They just look like a jumbled mess to me.”

She chuckles quietly and takes a quick sip, but the taste of beer burns her throat. _Stardust,_ she remembers, her father’s voice echoing in her ear. Back when everything was normal and there were no monsters or hunters or dead mothers and absentee fathers.

She isn’t sure why here, why now – the alcohol or the family or the party – but tears sting at her eyes and she’s grateful for the dark around them.

Cassian probably senses her melancholy, and though he’s supposed to be leaving, he comes closer and carefully leans against the side of the house next to her. She glances at him sideways, curious. He shrugs.

“Kay is still inside, arguing with Cecil over _werewolf reproduction,_ of all things.”

She chokes on the sip she was drinking, snorting beer from her nostrils until he begins to laugh with her. He laughs with his whole body, shoulders shaking, eyes crinkling, a flop of hair falling over his eyes. That’s a new one too. He has a nice laugh, she decides. Kinda like sunshine. But that’s probably just her alcohol-addled brain.

When they’ve both calmed down, he continues, “I told him I’d wait in the car or we’d never leave. But I can probably wait here too.”

She doesn’t reply to that because _‘yes, please’_ feels too much, too intimate.

Instead, she says, “He’s a fun one.”

Cassian shrugs. “Most people don’t get him. Hell, I don’t get him half the time. But… he’s a really good friend.”

Jyn nods. The little shit is definitely annoying but she could appreciate loyalty.

“And why does he hate me?” she wonders idly, because sure, she can be bitchy and abrasive, but it seems a little… personal with Kay. Which she doesn’t know what to do with.

“He’s just… protective.”

Jyn squints. “Over?”

“Me.”

She pauses. “Ooookay.”

He rolls his eyes before he sighs and admits, “He thinks I have a crush on you.”

She can’t help the surprised and somewhat incredulous laugh that escapes her mouth. _What the fuck._

“But you don’t,” she says, and it’s a statement, though her voice goes up a little at the end.

He looks at her, raising an eyebrow. “Would I have told you that if I did?”

_Fair enough._

“I think he’s just worried about my…” He stops, wincing. “ _Love life._ ”

She laughs again. “What, all work and no play makes Cassian a dull boy?”

“Haha. He thinks I’m damaged over losing my first love or something, and he’s convinced I need a human connection. I keep telling him that it’s been thirteen years, I’m fine.”

She nods, sympathetic. She could relate to that.

“Yeah, Bodhi does that sometimes. But I don’t have time for romance when I’m fighting monsters.”

“Exactly,” he nods, and the smile they share feels almost like comradery.

Finally, Kay exists the house and Jyn is almost disappointed. Unwilling to dwell on that, she pushes it down and turns to give Kay a cheeky grin.

“Hey, Kay. Finally figured out you weren’t the alpha in that argument?”

Kay stops, pauses, and turns to Cassian. From the corner of her eye, she can see him trying very hard not to snicker.

“I do not like her,” Kay announces and Jyn raises her beer up at him in salutations.

“Goodnight, Jyn,” Cassian tells her as Kay stalks off towards their car, leaving them alone once again. She gives him a smile, friendlier than she’d imagined she’d ever give him, and repeats his words.

He only takes a couple of steps before he turns around.

“Hey.” Jyn looks at him, a little surprised to see the playful gleam in his brown eyes. Who knew he could be _playful_? “You used protection, right?”

Jyn stares for a second before it hits her. She groans.

“Fuck off, asshole.”

He grins, a small little thing that actually makes him look – well, even more handsome than he already is.

“It’s just friendly concern.”

“We’re not friends,” she deadpans but Cassian just laughs.

“Okay, Jyn. See you around.”

Yeah. Maybe she would. Maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

* * *

**2018 FEBRUARY**

She’s hardly surprised the next time she walks into a small town in Arizona, finding Cassian Andor already one step ahead of her.

The case got her attention right away: men murdering their wives or girlfriends, then disappearing off the face of the earth. Sure, it’s the kind of thing that humans do too – and Jyn hates men who murder their wives just as much as she hates monsters, maybe more. But it’s the number of cases in one small town, all in the same area, all exactly the same, all women stabbed in their sleep, none of the men ever seen again – that’s what piques her curiosity and makes her wonder if there may be more to it than simple human insanity.

Cassian must agree, she muses when she walks into the bar that all six couples frequented at some point. He’s sitting at the barstool, talking to the waitress. He’s wearing a casual red shirt and jeans, no suits, no ties, so she wagers he isn’t here as an official. That gives her an idea. Maybe him being here isn’t the worst thing in the world.

Squaring her shoulders and dismissing the tiny voice in her head that this is crazy, she walks up to Cassian and puts an arm around his waist. To his credit, he only jumps a bit, then settles when he sees it’s her.

“Hey, baby,” she says, pulling herself up to the stool next to him. “Were you waiting long?”

He looks at her for a long second but she can’t tell what he’s thinking. He doesn’t let any of his thoughts show, doesn’t question, doesn’t say anything – he’s too good for that.

“No, no,” he says finally, playing along. “I just got here. But I thought you had to work today,” he adds pointedly. Translation: _what are you doing?_

She gives him a sugary smile. “Don’t be silly. I’d never stand you up.”

Translation: _I’m working this case like you._

Cassian’s gaze is unreadable but if he didn’t want to play along, he could have called her out on her bullshit. They stare at each other for a long second, Jyn challenging, Cassian measuring, then he leans forward and places a kiss on her cheek.

Jyn tries not to squirm – he’s only doing it so they can talk without being overheard.

“What?” she whispers, defensive. “You could use the help. It’s after couples.”

“Think I can’t handle this on my own?” he counters, a small challenge in his voice. She rolls her eyes and pulls away just in time for the waitress to arrive and take their order. Cassian puts a hand on her back and she jumps a bit at the unexpected contact, shooting him a surprised look. He quirks an eyebrow.

 _If we’re gonna do this, let’s do it right,_ it says. She relaxes, easing into the touch.

They spend an hour talking to the waitress and the customers, trying to see if anyone knows anything, and his hand on her back keeps her burning the whole time.

* * *

Back in Cassian’s motel room, he turns to her, an eyebrow raised.

“Nice stunt.”

She shrugs. “Sometimes I grow tired of the FBI cover. When an opportunity presents itself…”

“So you wanna be bait?”

“I love being bait.”

He shakes his head at her, amusement sparkling in his brown eyes. “I can’t tell if you’re serious or not.”

She smirks. “So. What do you have?”

He lets out a weary sigh, throwing himself into one of the chairs. “Not much. The bodies didn’t reveal anything – the women were killed by humans with normal human weapons, and none of the men were ever found, so it’s a dead-end. The only common ground I could find between the victims was the bar, but no one has seen or heard anything weird. I’m sure that’s where this thing is grabbing them though… Or infecting them.”

“What do you think it is? Mind-control? Possession? Poison?”

“No idea yet.”

“But you do think it’s a case.”

Cassian lifts a shoulder. “It’s just an instinct. Something doesn’t feel right.”

Jyn nods in agreement. When you’ve been doing the job for as long as they have, you develop a certain sixth sense. She could smell a case from a mile away, and while there’s nothing concrete pointing to paranormal activity here, it’s just one of those situations where she has to trust her gut.

“Alright, I’m gonna hit the books, see if I can find anything. You,” he pauses, giving her a long glance. “You can stay if you want. Check the internet?”

She nods and they settle in, Jyn on the bed, Cassian on the chair, for a long evening of research.

At one point, while reading a legend about the succubi, Jyn finds a painting illustrating the succubus with his mouth around another man’s… certain body part. Snickering, she turns her laptop over to Cassian.

“Hey. Check this out.”

Cassian looks at the picture, then back to her slowly.

“You’re 26, Jyn.”

Jyn gives him an offended look. She closes her laptop with a frustrated sigh and stands up, stretching her limbs.

“Well, I’m tired and I got nothing. This thing could be anything, we have no concrete evidence.”

“Hmm,” Cassian says, his eyes glued back to the book he’s been reading. She almost chews him out for ignoring her, but he closes the book and looks at her. “I think it might be a siren.”

“A siren? I thought they lured sailors into the ocean to drown them.”

“In the old days, maybe. But the world changes and monsters evolve.” Cassian shrugs. “The weirder part is that they’re here in the states. But they’re able to manipulate men into doing their bidding which would explain the murders. Then she kills them too, which is why they’re never found.”

“And why couples? She just hates love?”

“It _is_ Valentine’s Day season,” Cassian points out, and Jyn concedes.

“Let’s say you’re right. How do we kill them?”

“That’s the good news. Sirens are not fighters. They use their song to manipulate others into doing their dirty work. A stab in the heart does the trick, and they usually don’t put up much of a fight.”

She squints at him suspiciously. “So what’s the bad news?”

“We have no idea who it is. They look like normal people so it could be anyone.”

A slow smile unfurls on her lips. “Good thing I made us potential targets then, huh?”

* * *

In the morning, Jyn is awoken by Cassian shaking her shoulders, a cup of coffee in his hand. She blinks at him, confused for a second before she remembers that they’re working a case. Right. _Together._ And pretending to be a couple on top of it.

Jyn groans, trying to burrow back into the blankets.

“Wake up, I brought you coffee. And I think I have an idea of who the siren might be.”

At that, she sits up, squinting in the sunlight. She accepts the offered cup and takes a sip.

“Already?”

“I asked around. Guess who was hired at the bar just three days before the first murder happened.”

There’s a pause. “The waitress?”

Cassian nods. “The waitress.”

“Huh. Well, we gotta make sure before we go around stabbing her.”

“Yeah, I got her address. We can go check it out later.”

“Great.” She yawns loudly, rubbing at he face. Something red catches her eyes, and she holds up her cup into the light with a frown. It’s decorated with little red hearts and glitter. “ _Man_. Fucking Valentine’s Day. You know what, I can’t even blame the siren, this is atrocious. Love always ends in tears.”

Cassian pauses, giving her a strange look. “That’s very cynical of you.”

She looks up at him, a little surprised. She expected him to agree _– I don’t have time for romance when I’m fighting monsters_ – but his tone sounds genuine.

“Oh? And you don’t agree, Mr. Cynical?”

Cassian smirks a bit, always amused rather than offended at her digs at him. Then he shrugs. “You don’t know me that well, Erso.”

Well. That’s fair enough. They met a handful of times over the last year, and most of their interactions had been at least slightly antagonistic.

Still, the comment stays with her the whole day – as well as the sinking realization that maybe she _wants_ to.

* * *

They make their way to Wendy the waitress’ house in the cover of the night while she’s supposed to be on her shift at the bar. Jyn feels off from the moment they set foot into the place – everything is too clean, too orderly, almost clinically hygienic. It doesn’t look lived in. She and Cassian exchange a suspicious look, then she moves further inside, hand tightening around the knife on her belt.

“I’ll check out the living room, you take the bedroom?” she asks. Instead of an answer, she hears the telltale sound of a gun clicking behind her.

“Turn around,” Cassian says, and when Jyn slowly complies, she comes face to face with the barrel of his gun.

“ _Cassian_.”

Goddammit. The siren must have already gotten to him.

“Hands in the air,” he tells her. There’s nothing in his eyes that _resembles_ Cassian.

She shakes her head but does as she’s told. “When did it get you?”

“Right away,” says another voice from behind her, and the waitress slowly saunters in, wearing a smug look. Jyn glares but her eyes sweep over the room, trying to find a way out. How to gut this bitch without hurting Cassian? And how to keep Cassian from hurting _her_?

“How?” Jyn asks the siren, stalling. “Didn’t hear you singing at the bar.”

The siren rolls her eyes. “It wasn’t a song, you stupid bitch. We’re not in Ancient Greece anymore. It was my _saliva_. I put it in his glass.”

Eww.

“Too bad you fucked up,” Jyn tells her, a little vicious. “We were pretending. He’s not in love with me.”

The siren smirks and leans closer. “Wanna know a secret? Most of those guys weren’t. But it doesn’t matter. I already know, Cassian told me everything when we met this morning. You’re hunters.” She shrugs. “He’ll still kill you anyway, and then he’ll be mine.”

“What do you do with them anyway?” Jyn jumps at the opportunity to keep her talking, biding her time, waiting for the right opportunity. “The men?”

The siren walks to Cassian, trailing a long nail along his neck. Cassian is completely numb and detached, standing there like a puppet, and Jyn feels a little sick at the way Wendy leans in and kisses his throat. It’s practically a date drug.

“I enjoy them while I can. For a few days before the novelty wears off. Men aren’t supposed to be long-term, you know? Now.” She turns to Cassian, a sickening saccharin smile on her face. “Will you kill her for me?”

Cassian’s answer is swift and certain. “I would do anything for you.”

Jyn frowns. “Chill out, Romeo.”

She watches him, trying to get a glimpse of the real Cassian. A sign that he’s still in there. _Nothing._

Oh, fuck it. She has to do something or she’s screwed.

“Cassian. Listen to me,” she begins, and she doesn’t put down her arms but she takes a step closer.

“Stay where you are.”

“I know you’re still in there somewhere. You have to fight it.”

Jyn spares a glance at the siren who’s watching them, eyes alight with curiosity. Sick bitch is probably enjoying her begging, but at least she’s not interrupting them. She wants to see how this plays out.

“I mean it, don’t come closer.”

“I can help you, Cassian.” She takes one more step closer and he pulls the trigger. Jyn gasps, staggering as the bullet hits her in the shoulder. _Motherfucker._ It’s not the first time she’s been shot, probably won’t be the last, but it still stings like a bitch.

Clutching her bleeding shoulder, she gapes at him. “You shot me!”

“I warned you.”

“Alright,” the siren interrupts, putting a hand on Cassian’s arm. “This has been entertaining enough. But I believe your time is up.”

“So this is what you do, huh?” She growls at the siren, and because this is the last shot she has, she goes all in. “Manipulate men into doing your dirty work because you’re too fucking weak to do it yourself? Seduce them into loving you? You’re that pathetic and needy?”

The siren lets go of Cassian and stalks forward, grabbing Jyn by the neck. _Good._ Monsters are all so typically prideful.

“You think I’m weak? I could crush your neck with my bare hands right now but why bother? It’s so much entertaining to watch you bleed out at the hands of someone you care about. Oh, and you _do_. Screw that fake relationship crap, that much I can tell.”

The siren gives Jyn a look like she was a bug stuck under her heel.

“Wanna know what else I can tell? You fill your life with meaningless one-night stands because you want to feel close to someone but you don’t know any other ways. You’re scared of commitment but you do want a partner. You want someone to love you, someone who’ll be there for you, but you’re fucking terrified of it at the same time.”

Jyn’s mouth twists into a scowl, shooting daggers at the siren. “Shut your mouth.”

Wendy snorts, the disgust in her eyes clear. “And the only reason you’re so angry is because I’m right.”

“Maybe.” Jyn closes her eyes, taking a deep breath. “But you’re also really stupid.”

With that, she grabs the knife from her belt and plunges it into the siren’s heart. A perfect hit.

The siren stumbles back, letting her go, a shocked look on her face. A screeching inhumane sound escapes her mouth as her eyes cave in, her skin sagging, her face crumbling like dust. The creature falls to the floor and finally stops moving.

At the exact same time, Cassian collapses too. Ignoring her bleeding shoulder, Jyn rushes to him, checking for a pulse. She was hoping that killing the siren would clear his mind from her song, but she has no idea if that’s how it actually works. For all she knows, she could have just killed him too – but he’s breathing, thank God, and even conscious as he slowly blinks his eyes open.

“Cassian? Fuck, don’t do that again.”

“Jyn?” He looks up at her in confusion, his eyes slowly growing wider as he sees the blood on her shoulder. “Shit.”

“I’m fine.” She waves him away, breathing heavily. “Let’s just get the hell out of here.”

* * *

Cassian patches her up in the motel room without saying a word, but his eyes speak of guilt the whole time. She’s fine, she’s had worse, but she knows that doesn’t matter to him right at that moment. Still, he doesn’t mention it so she’s not inclined to bring it up either. She’s not very good at apologies or comfort. Or any of that feelings crap, to be honest.

It’s only when they’re about to part ways, Jyn heading back to Bodhi’s to rest for a few days, that he stops and looks at her.

“Jyn, wait.”

She does. He’s clearly uncomfortable, shifting on his feet as he rubs the back of his neck, so unlike the calm and collected Cassian she’s gotten used to. Instead of teasing, she decides to patiently wait for him to get out what he needs to say.

“I’m sorry about the… shot.”

“It wasn’t really you,” she answers, hoping he can tell that she doesn’t hold it against him.

“Yes, but… Well, I’m just glad you’re okay.”

“It takes a lot more than a bullet wound to kill me. And hey,” she adds, a slow smirk unfolding on her lips as something else occurs to her. “I saved _your_ ass this time.”

Cassian laughs, looking amused.

“Yes. I suppose you did.”

* * *

**2018 JUNE**

The next time they work together, it’s a choice. She’s working a case in Wisconsin, nothing special at first. Woman murders her mother, caught on the camera, takes off with the big bucks from the family safe. Except she swears up and down she wasn’t even in the city that day, and sure enough, she’s seen on another security camera two towns over, at the same time as the murder took place. Police are stumped.

Jyn rolls her eyes when she reads all that. Seems simple enough – she’s dealt with shapeshifters before.

Except it’s not a shapeshifter.

She catches the thing running away from another crime scene, throws it against the wall in a swift movement, ready to finish it off with a silver blade. A stab in the heart usually does the trick.

But the creature, currently looking like a pretty blonde woman, doesn’t even yelp. She just smirks.

“Better luck next time,” she tells Jyn, then swings her against the dumpster on the other side of the alleyway. Jyn hits the ground with a thud and a groan, the woman’s footsteps echoing on the pavement as she runs away.

 _Great._ Just great.

She spends the next two days pouring over every book and every website available, has already called Bodhi who’s doing his own research, and she still has nothing. For all intents and purposes, the evidence points to a shapeshifter. But it wasn’t.

Was it?

After debating for an hour or two, she calls Cassian. Bodhi is a huge help with the research, but she might need someone here in the flesh.

Cassian listens to her story patiently. She can hear the frown in his voice when he speaks up after she’s finished. “So what is it then? A doppelganger?”

“I don’t think so. Doppelgangers are apparitions, and this isn’t a spirit. I really thought it was a shapeshifter but the silver should have killed it.”

“Then… what?”

Jyn sighs. “I’m stumped. That’s why I’m calling you.” She pauses, chewing on her lip before she admits. “I could use the backup on this one.”

Anyone else might have teased her about it, asked her what happened to the great lone wolf Jyn Erso. But he doesn’t, not this time.

He hears the uncertainty in her voice, knows how difficult it was for her to ask for help, and he just says, “I’m on my way.”

* * *

Cassian arrives six hours later, and they go through everything together once more. He goes to the morgue to see the dead bodies, and he checks out the local bar to ask around, but not much comes out of it. Still, Jyn feels marginally better now that she’s not alone, and she starts to wonder when she began to think of Cassian as _safe_ – but she pushes that thought out of her mind for now.

Thankfully, Bodhi calls them the next day with some news.

“I had to dig deep and have some texts translated from archaic Latin, but I think I found something,” he tells them over the speaker. “I think it might be something called a double.”

Jyn frowns. “That just sounds like a doppelganger.”

“Not quite. It’s closer to a shapeshifter actually, but more powerful.”

“How?” Cassian asks.

“A shapeshifter just mirrors the appearance of a person, right? But this thing – it mirrors _everything._ I mean your memories, your thoughts, your personality. All it needs is a piece of your DNA, a strand of hair, saliva, anything, and they get access to every single thing that makes you _you_.”

Jyn exchanges a foreboding look with Cassian. That doesn’t sound good.

“You know, they actually haven’t been seen in centuries,” Bodhi adds, and he sounds somewhat impressed about that. “Believed to be extinct.”

“Great,” Jyn deadpans. “I’m so honored.”

“So how do we kill them?” Cassian cuts in before Bodhi could respond.

“Yeah, I stabbed her in the heart with a silver knife and she didn’t even blink,” Jyn adds.

“Well, the texts say you have to cut off their head and bury it somewhere far away from the body. If it can’t regenerate within 12 hours, it’ll die for good.”

“ _Regenerate?!_ ”

“Yeah. Sorry.”

“Fucking hell,” Jyn mutters under her breath. Why are the ancient monsters always so hardcore?

“One more thing,” Bodhi adds quickly. He sounds a little nervous now, which sets her one edge.

“Yeah?”

“Well, the double let you go, right?”

Jyn frowns. “Yeah. It didn’t even try to hurt me.”

“That’s what I was afraid of.”

“Why?”

“They… like chaos. They like to play with their victims, the ones whose bodies they steal. I think she’s gonna turn into you – if she hasn’t already.”

Jyn looks at Cassian, realization dawning on her. He looks apprehensive, a weary sigh on his lips.

“So when she does something illegal, they’ll come looking for _me_.”

“Uh-huh.”

“ _Great._ Well, thanks, Bodhi, we’ll – we’ll deal with it from here.”

“No problem. Be safe. I think you did the smart thing calling Cassian –”

Jyn hangs him up, avoiding looking at Cassian for a second as she tries not to blush.

“So what now?” he asks her.

“Well. We try to look for me.”

* * *

Jyn ends up tuning in to police scanners, listening for anything suspicious – 911 calls, robberies, break-ins. She feels uneasy just sitting there, waiting for a potential double of herself to do something nasty, but they don’t have much else to go on. Cassian has taken the armchair, going through the case files again, trying to find a connection. When she’s about ready to throw her hands in the air and scream, he finally makes a small contemplating noise.

Jyn turns to look at him, noting the way his fingers tighten around the pen he’s holding. She can practically see the wheels turning in his brain.

“Hey, Jyn, how sure are you that the double will turn into you?”

Jyn frowns. “Sure enough. Why?”

“I was looking at the victims. The common connection so far is money, but there’s one other thing. The double always chooses an appearance that lets them through the front door easily. Someone the victim trusts, someone they wouldn’t question.”

She’s not sure where he’s going with this. “Oookay?”

“So if it turns into _you_ , who would be someone they can fool easily?”

Jyn is silent for a second as her brain processes, then she gasps, reaching for her phone. “ _Bodhi._ ”

She dials his numbers immediately but he doesn’t answer. Jyn’s stomach drops as it goes to voicemail but she hangs up and tries again. He must be okay, she refuses to contemplate the alternative – he would know if someone wearing her face showed up, pretending to be her, right?

“Fuck,” she swears as it goes to voicemail the second time. “He’s not answering. Cassian…”

Her breathing speeds up, coming in short panicky bursts of air. Cassian crosses the room, grabbing her shoulders and making her look up at him.

“Hey, hey. We’ll save him. I promise. He’s gonna be fine.”

She takes deep breaths, attempting to calm down. Overreacting is not gonna help anyone, she tells herself sternly. But it’s Cassian’s presence that helps the most. His touch is grounding – it’s not enough to ease her fears, but it helps to keep herself focused.

“If he’s –”

“He’s not. Come on, let’s hit the road. I’ll drive.”

Jyn nods and they quickly pack up their stuff, checking out of the room in less than five minutes. Bodhi’s house is four hours away – it’s gonna be a long damn drive, but Jyn settles into the passenger seat and tries not to panic. She only half-succeeds.

* * *

Cassian ends up driving them back in three and a half. Jyn is out of the car before he even properly parks, but Cassian follows her and lays a hand on her arm.

“Jyn. We gotta do this smart. Don’t rush in.”

She takes a deep breath, knowing he’s right, but she’s itching to barge in and choke that bitch if she’s really in there. She unsheathes the blade they’ll need to chop off her head, then motions for Cassian to go ahead, slowly following behind.

Turns out they don’t have to be too careful though, because the double is waiting for them in the living room, lazily twirling a knife in her hand. And yes, she’s indeed wearing Jyn’s face. Jyn staggers for a moment, staring. She was expecting it but seeing it is a different thing. It’s like looking in the mirror – gives the term “evil twin” a whole new meaning.

“Took you a long damn time,” the double says. Even her voice… Jyn shakes her head, trying to focus.

Next to the double, Bodhi is tied up to a chair, hands and feet bound, mouth gagged – but he seems otherwise unharmed. Jyn exhales softly. That’s a half success, she supposes.

“Well, I’m here now. So how about you let him go and maybe we won’t hurt you. We don’t have any money, you know.”

Fake-Jyn smirks and stabs the knife she was twirling into the table in front of her.

“I don’t need your money. This is personal. You guys are hunters. I’m not gonna let you come after us.”

“Us?” Cassian echoes, frowning. Before any of them could process what that means, something heavy knocks her over the head, and she falls to the ground, groaning. When she looks up, she sees Cassian towering over her with a mean-looking smile – no, not Cassian. _Fuck._

Fake-Cassian steps on her hand until she groans, letting go of the blade in her hand. He kicks it away and crouches down to tie up her hands behind her back. She looks over at the real Cassian but – Jesus Christ, there’s a third of them. Wearing Bodhi’s face and tying up Cassian. They’re so screwed.

Fake-Jyn stands up and saunters over to fake-Cassian.

“Hey, baby. You’re just in time.”

She reaches out to frame his face, and Jyn watches in shock as fake-Jyn leans in and kisses fake-Cassian. It’s not just a quick kiss either – she kisses like she’s been starving for it and can’t get enough, her hands wandering all over his chest, sliding down his stomach and grabbing…

_Jesus._

Jyn blinks, turning away. There’s something deeply wrong with all of this, and with her too, for feeling mildly turned on. (Can of worms. Not gonna be opened.)

A part of her wants to look over at Cassian to see _his_ reaction, but she feels too uncomfortable to look him in the eye. She fears he might actually be able to tell that she’s a little bit into it and that’s just – anyway. Monsters. Tied up. About to be murdered. _Focus, Jyn._

When they finally pull away, Jyn glares at her double, murder in her eyes, willing herself not to blush.

“Seriously?”

Fake-Jyn shrugs, stroking fake-Cassian’s cheek. “He’s got a nice face. And I like this body too. It’s strong.” She looks down at herself, patting her chest. “I might keep it for a while. You won’t be needing yours anymore.”

She steps forward, looking at the three of them, all tied up. Jyn’s fingers are straining, trying to reach the small blade she always keeps in her back pocket.

“So?” Fake-Jyn asks, pulling her knife from the table and twirling it again. “Who wants to be the first?”

“Me,” Cassian says immediately, because of course he does. Jyn glares at him. She just needs a bit more time – she almost has the knife.

“Pretty boy?” Fake-Jyn raises her eyebrows, then shakes her head. “No, I don’t think so. How about you instead?” She points towards Jyn, and Jyn bares her teeth at her.

“Come and get me then.”

 _Just a little more_ – that’s it. She makes quick work of the ropes binding her hands, trying not to move too much so she doesn’t alert the doubles. When fake-Jyn leans down, getting all up in her face and still twirling that damned knife, Jyn grabs her little blade and stabs it into the bitch’s neck.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt her, but it catches her off-guard, and Jyn manages to kick the double in the chest, sending her sprawling. Thankfully, Cassian’s managed to get himself free too, and grabbing her discarded blade, he chops off fake-Bodhi’s head in one swift movement as the thing moves towards him.

“You _bastard_ ,” fake-Jyn snarls from the floor. “That was my brother.”

“And he’s mine,” Jyn growls, catching the blade that Cassian throws to her, and severing the double’s head from her body. The only one left is fake-Cassian. But when she looks around, he’s nowhere to be seen. So much for loyalty.

“I’ll get him,” Cassian tells her. “You untie Bodhi.”

Jyn doesn’t argue – she doesn’t really stomach going after fake-Cassian and chopping off his head too. Sure, it’s not really _him_ but it looks like him, and seeing Bodhi’s severed head on the floor is already nightmarish enough. She’s encountered bodies mangled worse, but this is different. She tries not to look as much as she can.

“Hey, Bodhi.” She takes out his gag first, then makes quick work of his ropes. “You okay?”

“Been better,” he admits, breathing heavily. “But they didn’t hurt me. They were waiting for you. Jyn, the heads –”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” She takes a deep breath, looking back at the two heads on the floor. _Just another average day._ “I’ll go help Cassian. You sure you’re okay?”

He nods, giving her a reassuring smile, and Jyn grabs her blade, heading outside to check on Cassian. She finds him a few yards away, staring with morbid fascination at another severed head on the ground – his own.

“He was trying to run. Asshole.”

Jyn puts away her blade and joins him, looking down at the head too. “Well, this is fucked up.”

Cassian snorts. “You think?”

Jyn shakes her head, then turns away. “I’ll go get a container. Then we can go for a ride.”

* * *

It takes them another three hours to drive to an acre in the middle of nowhere two states over and bury the heads sufficiently far away from their bodies. Bodhi wasn’t sure how far is _far_ , and they didn’t want to risk any of the doubles regenerating themselves.

When they’re done, Jyn takes a deep breath, swiping at the sweat gathered on her forehead.

“Well, I never want a repeat of that. Like ever.”

Cassian’s smile is small but amused. “What, you _didn’t_ enjoy burying your own corpse?”

She gives him a sarcastic little smirk in return, then lets out a slow sigh. “I’m beat. I’m gonna head back to Bodhi’s, rest for a few days. You… wanna come?” she adds, her voice a little uncertain. She doesn’t usually do this, but she figures Cassian has earned it. “You can stay for a while.”

“That’d be nice,” Cassian replies and Jyn lets out a quiet breath. She didn’t realize how nervous she was about his answer. There’s a pause as he contemplates saying something more, his face uncharacteristically nervous. Well, at least she’s not alone in that. “And you know if… you need a partner for your next case –”

“I’d love that,” she says immediately, her lips curling into a smile that he mirrors.

 _Partners._ It’s a weird thought. It might not work out.

But maybe it’s worth a shot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic ended up being way too long for a oneshot so I decided to split it in two, but the good news is that the other half is already written as well so I’m not gonna make you guys wait too much. Thank you for reading! As always, you can find me on [tumblr](https://captainandors.tumblr.com/)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year, everyone! May this one be better than the last.
> 
> Content warning for this chapter: same as the last one, plus _temporary_ character death
> 
> Thanks to dannyps1898 on tumblr for the Spanish translation!
> 
> Also forgot to include this last time, but here's a [moodboard](https://andorerso.tumblr.com/post/638863988793491456/shadow-preachers-for-moonprincess92-heres-the) I made for this fic if you wanna check it out!

**2018 NOVEMBER**

Jyn half-expects everything to go wrong the first time, then the second time, the third time, the fourth time. But she and Cassian keep working together like they were always meant to, efficiently, professionally, skillfully. And it doesn’t blow up in her face.

Somewhere along the line, she stops waiting for it to happen.

It turns out having a partner has its perks. Less research, division of labor, a back-up, someone to bounce off ideas. She honestly enjoys working with him, and maybe even starts thinking of him as her friend. Kay tags along with them a couple of times because he’s Cassian’s best friend or something, but they butt heads too much and Cassian grows tired of buffering between them. They spend time at Bodhi’s in their off-days – he and Cassian get along a lot better than she and Kay – and one time, even Kay joins them there. That’s a rather… chaotic weekend.

But Jyn enjoys it all. The arguments with Kay, the banter with Cassian, the newfound trust between them, even the near-death experiences that have them celebrating with a drink after a job well done.

A few months into their partnership, they stumble into a motel off the highway in the middle of the night, looking for a room to rest before they continue their journey the next day. The receptionist tells them that all rooms with two single beds are taken – the only thing left is a double bed. Jyn and Cassian exchange a wordless look before he turns back to the bored teenager.

“Alright, we’ll take it.”

She’s not gonna let it be weird. They’re both adults, it doesn’t have to be weird. She already spends so much time alone with him in the car, trusts him to have her back, trusts him enough to sleep with him in the same room – this shouldn’t be a problem.

Except, of course it is. Because it’s Cassian, and he tries to insist that he’ll take the chair, and she tells him he’s insane if he thinks she’ll let him, and they somehow both end up on the very edges of the double bed, staring at the ceiling like it holds the answers to the creation of the universe. The distance between them is so small, yet so big it might as well be the Amazon River.

Jyn is too scared to move and Cassian is unnaturally still, and it’s all so ridiculous. Why does it have to be weird?

She tries to think of something to say, something to break the ice – something to break down the wall between them.

Well, what better than childhood traumas?

“What was your sister’s name?”

Cassian hasn’t talked about his family much. All she knows is that they were killed by vampires when he was six – she doesn’t even know how _he_ managed to get away. But when he does make an off-handed comment here and there, it’s usually about his older sister. She gets the feeling he’d really looked up to her as a kid.

There’s a pause. When he answers, his voice is soft. “Vera.”

Jyn chews on her lip, contemplating. “Our first case –”

“You consider that our first case?”

She rolls her eyes. “Our first case. You were thinking of them.”

But maybe particularly of Vera. _I know your brother, it’d be a shame if he lost you._

She hears him let out a sigh and turn his head to look at her but she keeps her eyes glued to the ceiling.

“We all have our ghosts.”

Jyn smirks. “Usually more than one.”

“Usually.”

Another pause. She still can’t bring herself to look at him. It’s easier to have this conversation in the dark with no eye contact.

“Wanna hear about mine?”

She can feel his gaze on her, burning, exhilarating. “If you want to share.”

“My mom was the first. I was eight when she died. That’s how I got into this life. She was… killed in front of me.”

He doesn’t say anything but she knows she has his full attention. She’s grateful for his silence. She rarely talks about it – more like _never_ – and she thinks an interruption would likely make her clam up. Plus, they’re cut from the same cloth, she and Cassian. Their wounds are the same shape. He knows how useless apologies and comforting words are, probably detests them as much as she does.

“I wasn’t supposed to see it. I was supposed to hide. But I didn’t listen. I went back.” She lets out a shuddering breath, jumping a bit when Cassian lays a hand on her shoulder. She looks at him then, finding his dark eyes looking at her with – understanding. No pity or sympathy. Just kindness.

Jyn settles back into the mattress, breath evening out. They’re both silent for a while.

“Did you find the thing that killed your family?”

“Yeah. Took me fourteen years. But yeah.”

“I didn’t find mine,” she admits, a bitter edge to her tone.

Cassian squeezes her shoulder, a non-verbal sign of support, something that says, _I’m here_. It’s strangely reassuring. His touch keeps her grounded and she’s not sure what to make of that just yet.

“It eats at you, doesn’t it?” he muses, not talking about her specifically. Just in general. She nods, turning back to watch the shadows play across the ceiling as cars pass by their room.

“So I just try to save as many people as I can.”

“You’re doing a great job at it,” he tells her, and though anyone else would have said something similar, if only to comfort her, from Cassian, it actually _means_ something. He’s not one to throw around empty words like that.

She smiles a little, surprising herself by turning around to face him and scooting a little closer. Cassian’s hand falls away, resting on the mattress between them, just a breath away from her own.

“You think… you think they’re in a better place?”

It’s such a trite cliché thought, but she’s genuinely curious about his opinion.

“I hope so.”

She lets out a sigh, her eyes dropping. Looking at their fingers almost touching, his hand so close she can feel the heat radiating off him.

“I guess we’ll never know. Not until we go too.”

“Doesn’t matter. Hope’s kinda the whole point.”

Jyn doesn’t know what to say to that – instead, she burrows closer and tentatively rests her head against his chest. She can feel Cassian tensing up for a second and she almost pulls away, but just as quickly, his hand comes to rest on her back, warm and reassuring. She lets out a long breath and closes her eyes. It’s nice. Cassian is warm and safe, and she’s been exhausted for so long. She doesn’t know when she falls asleep – it comes naturally.

And if they wake up with their legs tangled the next morning, her mouth pressed against his neck and his arm still holding her tight, they don’t talk about it.

* * *

**2018** **DECEMBER**

After a job well done, Jyn is just about ready to hang it up for the year and go home to Bodhi’s for Christmas – _hopefully, Cassian will join them this time? She hasn’t really worked up the nerve to ask yet_ – but things are never that simple.

They are passing through Colorado on their way back to Bodhi’s, Jyn still trying to figure out how to ask Cassian to stay, when she sees it. A woman dressed in all black standing on the other side of the street and staring at her. Unnaturally still. Creepily blank-faced. No one else seems to notice her as she stands in the middle of a busy street. That is a dead giveaway.

Jyn swallows, trying to convince herself that it isn’t what she thinks it is. Couldn’t be – they don’t warn you in advance, do they?

But when they get in the car after Cassian gets back from paying for the gas, Jyn looks at him and says, “Maybe we should find a motel. There might be a case in this town.”

“What? Why?”

“I… I think I saw a reaper.”

* * *

“You sure it was a reaper?” Cassian asks for the hundredth time after they checked into the first available motel room they found. Looks like they’d be staying a bit after all. Cassian, for his part, hasn’t stopped trying to wear a hole in the carpet with his pacing, and Jyn is starting to worry about paying for damages.

“No,” she replies, also for the hundredth time. “But it pretty damn looked like it. Long black coat, creepy thousand-yard stare, invisible to everyone else.”

“Could have been a ghost.”

“Maybe,” she agrees if only to appease him. “But she didn’t seem… pale enough. I don’t know, she was pale, but not in an _I’m-dead_ way, you know?”

She knows ghosts. She’s encountered a lot, and she can’t explain it, but this didn’t feel like one.

“Jesus, Jyn.” He blows out a long breath, running a hand through his already messy hair. “What are we going to do now?”

“Look.” She stands up and walks over to him to lay a gentle hand on his arm. He looks at it in surprise and his breathing slows, but the tension in his shoulders remain. “Let’s not panic. We don’t know that it’s here for me –”

“Are you serious –”

“I mean, when do reapers actually warn anyone before their death?” she continues and waits for him to say something to that. When he doesn’t, she nods. “That’s right, they don’t. Something’s clearly off, and I think we should investigate.”

“No. _I_ should investigate. You – you stay here.”

She frowns. “You can’t bench me.”

“You saw a reaper!”

“And maybe she was trying to warn me of _your_ death!” she exclaims, throwing out a random idea to emphasize her point. “We don’t know why she was here. We don’t know what exactly is going on. It could be dangerous for you too.”

“I’m not the one who had a friendly reaper visit,” he counters, unwilling to compromise on this, it seems. “Besides, I’ve done this alone a hundred times before you.”

“But you don’t have to anymore. We’re partners, that’s the whole point.”

“Yeah, and I’d like to _keep_ my partner.”

She rolls her eyes, seeing that she’s getting nowhere with him, and flops down onto the bed.

“Where are you going to go anyway?”

“Well, it’s a reaper. I’ll check out the obituaries and maybe pop into the morgue.”

Jyn levels him with a look. “You know if a reaper wants me dead, this motel room isn’t gonna stop them?”

“Just salt the doors and windows. Please?” he adds, so earnest, and for fuck’s sake, what can she say to that? She nods once, reluctantly, and he seems appeased for now.

Of course, she doesn’t point out that salt probably won’t stop a reaper, but they both know that.

* * *

Cassian checks the local obituaries but finds no suspicious deaths. Mundane stuff – a heart attack, a car accident, cancer. Of course, it doesn’t mean they were all completely mundane; monsters sometimes have ways of making it look like that. So Cassian goes to check out the morgue anyway and talk to the local authorities. Meanwhile, Jyn sits in their motel room and looks up everything she can find on reapers.

Which is admittedly not much. They’re not evil, not really – they’re just doing their job of collecting deceased souls and sending them to their respective destinations. Heaven, hell, whatever. She’s not sure about that part. But the point is that reapers are not the ones who decide who dies, they’re not even the ones who kill them. All they deal with is the crossover.

And there’s nothing about the possibility of killing one.

Jyn sighs, looking at the time on her laptop. Cassian’s been gone a little over an hour. She hasn’t called Bodhi, and she doesn’t think she’s going to. Not until they know for sure that the reaper isn’t really here for her. She just has to deal with the research on her own this time.

As she tries really, really hard not to entertain the idea that maybe this is it, the reaper is here for her and she’s going to die – the thing shows up.

Jyn jumps a foot on the bed, almost knocking her laptop on the floor. She catches it just in time but doesn’t take her eyes off the reaper, standing in front of her, looking just as impassive as before.

“ _Fuck_ ,” she swears under her breath. “That’s your grand plan? Scare me to death?”

The reaper frowns but doesn’t comment on that. “I need your help.”

Jyn’s eyebrows shoot up to her hairline. “Wait, what?”

“I need your help,” the reaper repeats, more empathically, like she’s talking to a little child. “I don’t have much time, it’s not very easy to appear in front of someone who’s still alive.”

“So you’re not here to take me?” Jyn says slowly, just to make that crystal clear. That part’s kinda important.

“ _No_.” The reaper scans the room as if looking for something. “Where’d you leave your boyfriend?”

Oh, a sassy reaper, huh?

Jyn shrugs. Not the first time some monster made a dig at their relationship. Like men and women couldn’t possibly be just friends.

“He was busy.”

“Doesn’t matter. You’ll just have to pass on the message to him too. There’s a rogue reaper in town.”

“A rogue… what?”

“A rogue reaper,” she repeats, frustration reflecting in her tone. “Pay attention, please. He’s completely gone off the rails. Started reaping people left and right, people who are not supposed to die just yet.”

“He’s not going by his list?” Jyn frowns, sitting up straighter. This is getting weird.

“No, he is, he’s just doing it at double speed. Marjorie Sims died yesterday from a heart attack. She was supposed to live until April.”

Jyn shakes her head, completely flabbergasted. “Can he even do that?”

The reaper spreads her arms as if to say, _obviously, he can._

“So what do you need me for?”

“We have to stop him before he completely messes up the balance of the universe. But _I_ can’t kill him. No reaper can.”

“So you need us to kill him,” Jyn concludes blankly.

“That’s right.”

“Sorry, sister,” she begins slowly, “I’m not sure how that’s even possible. Are you guys even killable?”

The reaper rolls her eyes. “Of course we are. Everything is. You need a blade coated in holy water and you need to do it at dusk.”

“Dusk?”

“Death of the day.”

Of course. How poetic.

“Alright. How do we find him?”

“Jonathan Gilroy. Supposed to live until August, at least. That’s where he’ll be.”

The reaper seems finished with the conversation, but Jyn has many questions left. She quickly stands before the reaper could disappear.

“Wait. How the hell are we going to see him? I don’t think he’s just going to show himself to us like you did.”

“I’ll take care of that. Just be there.”

“Okay…” She trails off, still a bit unsure. “And why should we believe you about any of this?”

The reaper gives her a look full of cold fury.

“Believe what you want. You don’t have to help me, it’s just the fate of the universe after all.” Jyn shifts a little at the contempt in her voice. Alright, this reaper is definitely not having a good day. “But trust me. You don’t want him to keep going down that list with such speed.”

Jyn frowns. _Just what the hell does that mean –_

But the reaper is gone. Well, fuck. Looks like she has to call Cassian.

* * *

“A rogue reaper,” Cassian says slowly once Jyn’s recounted her tale to him.

“Mmhm.”

“A rogue reaper?

Jyn spreads out her arms. “That’s what she said.”

“Can reapers even do that?”

“That’s what _I_ said.”

There’s a moment of silence as Cassian considers this. She can practically see his mind racing as he thinks.

“Something isn’t right.”

“Not your typical gig, huh?”

“No, not that. I mean… a siren in America. Doubles that haven’t been seen in centuries. A reaper going crazy and doing a speedrun of his death list. Don’t you think it’s all a little weird? What’s going on with the monsters lately?”

Jyn shrugs. Sure, it’s a bit weird – but the world _is_ getting crazier and crazier each year. Maybe the monsters are just adapting.

“Sure, it’s weird. But honestly, I’m just glad she’s not here for me.”

Cassian pauses, giving her a long look. “Yeah, me too.”

His eyes are making her fidget, too dark, too intense, so she pulls her gaze away and stands up.

“Well. Let’s just get this over with.”

* * *

They have the blade dipped in holy water and head to Jonathan Gilroy’s house at dusk like the reaper asked. That, of course, is an awkward conversation to have with the old man – Jyn doesn’t usually favor telling the truth, but in this case, they don’t have much of an excuse. They try to tell him that he might be in danger but he doesn’t buy it and is more suspicious of _them_ than anything. When he tries to get them to leave, threatening the police, Jyn, at the end of her patience, blurts out the truth.

Cassian throws her a look and she shrugs. _You have a better idea?_

What happens is what always happens. The man stares at them like they’re aliens.

“You’re both insane. Get the hell out of my house right now!”

“Sir, you don’t want that –”

“Now! I mean it, don’t make me call – _oh my god_.”

The old man’s eyes go wide, staring in terror at something behind them. Jyn turns around with apprehension. There he is. The reaper who went rogue.

She frowns. “You’re uglier than I thought.”

It’s just a matter of combat after that. The reaper throws her across the room, twists Cassian’s arm until he drops the blade. He has one single goal: get to Jonathan. He doesn’t really seem to care about her and Cassian other than getting them out of the way. Maybe he doesn’t think they can actually stop him. More likely, he just has tunnel vision when it comes to killing Jonathan Gilroy.

His mistake. As the reaper descends on a terrified Jonathan, putting his wrinkly hands on the old man’s face, Cassian tosses the blade to Jyn. She stands, stabbing it into the reaper’s back. Praying that their intel is correct and they wouldn’t have a very pissed rogue reaper on their hands.

But the reaper stops, his hands going still as Jonathan falls to the floor. For a moment, nothing happens. The reaper slowly turns around to look at Jyn in shock, then he quite literally disintegrates into thin air.

Well. Correct intel, then.

Jyn lets out a relieved breath, and holds out a hand to Jonathan who’s breathing heavily, eyes wild.

“Are you okay?” Cassian asks.

“I…. what the hell – what was that thing?”

Jyn shrugs. “Told you that you were in danger.”

Jonathan slumps into his armchair, holding his head in his hands, staring into nothing. Probably traumatized for life, but he’ll live.

At least for now. Jyn remembers the reaper’s words. At least until August. Still, everyone deserves that extra time. No matter how short it is.

Cassian leans down, picking up something from the floor. A piece of old yellowing paper. Jyn frowns.

“What’s that?”

“His list, I think.” Cassian runs his eyes over the thing, his face showing no sign of emotions. But there’s a pause. Jyn can tell there’s a pause, his eyes stopping on something, his lips thinning, just a little.

Jyn opens her mouth to question it but another voice speaks up.

“I’ll take that.”

The first reaper appears, holding out her hand for the list. Jyn frowns as Cassian hands it to her without hesitation.

“You’re welcome,” she says to the reaper. “We cleaned up your mess for you but no biggie.”

The reaper turns to her, her mouth twisting into a grimace. “You’re disrespectful and annoying, but I do appreciate the help. And make no mistake, I always pay back my debts.”

Before Jyn could question how she plans to do that, the reaper is gone. She turns to Cassian, pausing when she sees him staring off into nothing, lost in his head.

“Are you okay?” she asks, frowning.

He nods once, quickly, but doesn’t quite meet her eyes. “Let’s just go.”

* * *

In the car, he’s still quiet, his hand tight around the steering wheel, his mouth permanently set in a frown. Jyn is silent as she watches him for a while, the street lights from outside illuminating his profile. If she wasn’t concerned for him, she’d think he looked nice in that half-light.

“What name did you see?” she asks quietly, her tone gentle.

“What?”

“I know you saw a name on there. I can tell, Cassian, I know you. Who was it?”

Cassian stares ahead for a while, saying nothing. She lets him have his long silence, waiting patiently.

“Someone I saved a long time ago,” he says at last, swallowing. His words are carefully void of any emotion. “One of my first solo cases. I know people die but it’s just…” He trails off, lifting a shoulder.

Jyn watches him, the way his jaw is set in a hard line, his shoulders rigid, his posture stiff. She gets the feeling he’s still not telling her something… but she decides to let it go.

“I know. That sucks.”

He shrugs. “It is what it is.”

* * *

They get their stuff from the motel, packing in silence. Cassian is still somewhat lost in his head and Jyn doesn’t want to bother him. She just shoulders her own bag, turning to look at him.

“You ready to go?”

“Jyn… wait.” He turns to her, holding something in his hand – some kind of package, it looks like. “I wanted to…” He looks down at the package, rubbing the back of his neck. Jyn raises her eyebrows. Is he _blushing_?

Smothering her smirk for his sake, she curiously steps closer. He raises his eyes to her and thrusts the package into her hands, rather unceremoniously.

“Merry Christmas.”

“ _Oh._ Cassian, you didn’t have to –”

“Just open it.”

She gives him an awed look before glancing down at the package in her hands. It’s nothing fancy but neatly wrapped in wrapping paper, and she almost feels bad for ripping it open. She’s never had anyone, besides Bodhi, who would give her a gift like that and care enough to wrap it.

When the paper falls away, it reveals a box holding a small carved blade with a tiny white gem embedded in its hilt. It even has a brown leather case, matching the handle. She lifts it out of the box, holds it in her hands, twirls it. Good grip. Looks sharp too.

“It’s silver,” Cassian tells her. He still sounds a bit shy. “And the gem is kyber like your necklace. Not much but I thought…”

“It’s perfect,” Jyn tells him, looking up at him when she thinks she’s not going to burst into tears anymore. She gives him a gentle smile instead. “Thank you.”

She takes a deep breath, trying to build up her courage. Now is the perfect time to ask him about Christmas.

“Listen, I… I didn’t get you anything, but I’ve been meaning to ask – if you wanted to spend Christmas with Bodhi and me? Chirrut and Baze will be there too,” she adds hastily, “and I guess if you want, we can invite Kay.”

“Wow.” He laughs, and she’s glad to see that some of his melancholy has faded. The smile he gives her is blinding, and it sets her heart racing. “You’d tolerate him for me?”

Jyn shrugs. _I’d do a lot of things for you._

“Yeah, sure. It’s Christmas after all.”

“In that case,” Cassian nods, his eyes sparkling, “let’s go.”

* * *

**2019 FEBRUARY**

Jyn and Cassian are doing a job with Bodhi when it all changes.

They’re suspecting a witch who’s putting love spells on people. Making them go crazy with affection to the point where they either kill a third party, their lover, or themselves. Just in time for Valentine’s Day too. It’s always fucking Valentine’s Day. But the good news is, all they really need to do now is find the witch responsible before they claim another victim.

Cassian stays in the motel to go through the victims, looking for connections, while Bodhi chats up some locals at a nearby bar, and Jyn… well, Jyn tries to help but she’s not really a people person. She’s starting to think that she should have stayed back with Cassian when a guy across the room catches her gaze and raises his glass towards her.

It’s the coroner from the morgue, and Jyn hesitates. He was nice and they definitely had a _vibe_. She wasn’t oblivious to his flirting, maybe even reciprocated a bit, but she’s here to do a job first and foremost. Nevertheless, it’s tempting. She hasn’t been with anyone in a while and he’s handsome. Felix, or something.

When he comes over to her table and sits down, she doesn’t object.

“Fancy seeing you here, detective,” he says, such a cheesy line that she could laugh.

“You too,” she tells him instead, deciding to play along. Whatever. It’s not like she’s ever really herself during any of her hook-ups. Men don’t want their one night stands to be themselves, and she’s honestly okay with that because she doesn’t want them to really know her anyway.

Maybe she can even find out something more about the case – it’s not a necessity but it’d certainly be a bonus.

“You too,” she tells him.

“Are you here alone?” he asks her, looking around. He must be looking for Cassian because he’d been the one who came with her to the morgue with their fake FBI badges, so Jyn nods and hopes Bodhi doesn’t come over to interrupt them.

“Your partner?”

“He’s working the case. Very dedicated.”

Not even a lie.

“Not the type to relax, huh?”

Jyn smiles tightly – it’s true that he’s not, but it’s not like that has to be a bad thing. She doesn’t feel right sitting here, mocking Cassian with a stranger.

“You know, I wondered about you two.”

She pauses before taking a sip of her drink. “Yeah?”

“How long have you two been partners?”

“A little less than a year. Why?”

“You seemed very in synch.”

_What the hell is he getting at?_

Jyn frowns. “Are you asking me if there’s anything between us?”

He laughs, sheepish. “Am I that obvious?”

She raises her eyebrows, a little cold, and Felix holds up his arms in a gesture of surrender.

“Hey, I just wanted to know how safe it is to hit on you. No romantic tension then?”

“None,” she says, a little harshly. “You’re free to flirt. Of course, I might not flirt back.”

“I’ll take my chances,” he tells her, a smile playing on his lips. Jyn wishes it’d do something for her – but other than the fact that he’s relatively pleasant to look at, she’s admittedly less interested in him now after calling her out about Cassian.

She doesn’t know why she doesn’t just leave. Maybe it’s the fact that she doesn’t want to be thinking about Cassian either. Maybe it’s the basic human need for another person’s touch. Maybe it’s just her poor decision-making skills.

She goes home with him that night.

* * *

Cassian looks very handsome the next morning in the diner. Not that he’s not always handsome. He’s actually very distracting that way – dreamy and… inviting. She wants to touch his hair. It always looks so soft, she has no idea how he does it.

She feels weirdly emboldened to tell him so.

“Cassian, can I touch your hair?”

Cassian pauses, looking at her in surprise. She can feel Bodhi’s eyes slide to her as well. She realizes Cassian had been going on about something related to the case but she wasn’t really paying attention. How could she be expected to when Cassian’s so close, looking like _that?_

“… What?”

“Are you feeling alright?” Bodhi asks her slowly.

Jyn nods. It’s a little hot in the diner – but she’s fine otherwise. It’s only Cassian who’s so distracting.

“Yeah, sorry.” She shakes her head, trying to get herself under control. “I don’t know what came over me.”

“Uhm.” Cassian clears his throat, turning his eyes back to the papers in front of him. “If we can get back to the case then –”

“I just think,” Jyn interrupts, emotions bubbling up again. “I think I love you, Cassian.”

There’s a long heavy silence at the table as Jyn waits with bated breath for an answer. Bodhi looks between the two of them back and forth, half-incredulous, half-horrified.

“Jyn…” Cassian says, squinting at her, suspicion written all over his face. “It got to you, didn’t it? You’re under a spell.”

Jyn blinks at him, shocked. Is that what he thinks? No, her feelings are real – it’s not a spell.

She shakes her head. “No, I’m not. I just love you.”

Cassian turns to Bodhi with a weary look. “She’s completely out of it.”

“But… how?” Bodhi asks, worry coloring his voice. Jyn frowns. Dammit, why do they think she’s under a spell? She’s completely fine – though she feels very very overlooked in that moment.

Is he rejecting her then?

“Jyn,” Cassian turns to her, thoughtful, “who did you sleep with last night?”

“Why?” she frowns. “He meant nothing, I promise.”

“Jyn, it’s important. Please.”

She chews on her lips, a little reluctant as she admits, “The coroner. Felix.”

“Right. He must be the witch we’re looking for. Didn’t realize who he was messing with.” He turns to Bodhi. “We have to take care of it. Will you keep an eye on Jyn?”

“Wait,” Jyn cuts in, blinking at Cassian, resisting the urge to reach out and grab his arm. “Where are you going? Don’t leave me.”

Cassian looks uncomfortable, almost unable to meet her eyes. “I’ll be quick, I promise –”

“ _Please_ ,” she says, using her best pouty face. Cassian regards with a look of incredulity.

“Uhm,” Bodhi begins, “maybe I can take care of it. And you keep an eye on her.”

Cassian frowns. “Are you sure?”

Bodhi gives him a small smile. “I’m not a complete amateur.”

“Of course not. Jyn would just kill me if anything happened to you.”

“Jyn saved my life more times than I can count,” Bodhi says, turning to shoot her a warm look. “Let me return the favor.”

* * *

Once Bodhi is gone, Cassian turns to Jyn. He’s so pretty. His eyes are the warmest shade of brown she’s ever seen, and she still wants to touch his hair. She also wants to kiss him. Her hands are itching to reach out and touch his cheekbones.

She could wrap her arms around him like an octopus and never let go. It’s a tempting thought.

“Come on. Let’s go back to the motel.”

He stands up to pay for their meal while Jyn quickly finishes her coffee. She watches with a growing frown as some kids from another table start snickering when he speaks to the cashier. They’re clearly just bored entitled assholes, but she doesn’t like the way they laugh under their breaths. And she definitely doesn’t like the way one of them turns to Cassian and says something. She can’t really hear what, but from the nasty smirk on the boy’s face – he can’t be more than 17 – it’s not anything good.

Jyn’s blood boils. How dare they even look at Cassian, let alone talk to him? Her hand strays to her belt, curling around the blade strapped there. He’s her partner and she has to defend him.

Cassian, of course, ignores the kids – he’s too thick-skinned to let anything like that bother him – but Jyn stands up, outraged, and ready to storm over there. The only thing that stops her is Cassian throwing her a look across the room, silently asking her to stand down.

 _Fine._ She fumes under her breath and stays where she is, but her hand doesn’t let go of her knife. _Just let them say one more thing…_

Cassian quickly walks over to her, putting a hand on her arm. It’s not restrictive but firm, like he’s afraid she would walk over there and slaughter them all or something.

Well. She _is_ still clutching her knife. And she’s considering it. So.

“What did they say to you?” Jyn demands under her breath as he tries to steer her outside.

“Nothing I haven’t heard before. Calm down.”

“I’m calm,” Jyn tells him and raises her knife, showing off its sharp edges glinting in the light. “Just homicidal.”

Cassian pulls her hand down, wearily looking around. “No. Put that away.”

“I’ll kill them for you if you want.”

“ _Jyn_ , Jesus.”

“I’d do anything for you if you ask.”

He shakes his head. “We really need to get back to that motel,” he says, more to himself than her. “And hope that Bodhi hurries up.”

* * *

In the end, Bodhi manages to get rid of the witch fairly quickly. For Jyn, it’s a little bit like a bad hangover – her head is throbbing, the lights are a little too bright, and she’s a bit nauseous.

The worst part, though, is how fucking embarrassed she feels.

Even if it was a spell, even though she knows Cassian doesn’t hold it against her, it’s just – well, it’s mortifying. She was willing to execute some kids to defend his honor. How the hell does she look him in the eye after that?

So in a surprising turn of events, they do not talk about it. Cassian packs their stuff in silence, and Bodhi watches them both, his eyes bouncing between the two of them like it was a tennis match.

When Cassian heads outside to load the car, Bodhi turns to her.

“Don’t worry,” he begins, “Cassian thinks you were under a spell.”

“I _was_ under a spell,” Jyn says, indignant.

Bodhi gives her a look.

“Yeah, but he thinks that’s the only reason you were throwing yourself at him. He doesn’t suspect a thing.”

“Suspect what?” Jyn glares at him, not liking what he’s implying. “Bodhi, I swear, I’m not in the mood for this.”

“Look,” he starts, his voice kind but unrelenting. “Here’s the thing. The witch said some things before he died. The love spell made you focus on Cassian, and there’s a reason for that. It only works that way if you already have feelings for someone. Otherwise, you would have been bound to the witch.”

“That’s,” Jyn sputters, looking for something to say, “that’s ridiculous. He was lying. He’s a witch. They lie.”

Bodhi gives her a look. “Was he lying, or are you lying to yourself?”

“I don’t like Cassian!” she exclaims.

Sure, he’s nice-looking. Kind. Reliable. He grounds her, centers her, and she looks for him when she’s worried or scared. He’s always there for her, always has her back, and she’s never had someone like him before in her life. Someone she trusts so fully, someone she knows so wholly, someone she knows would always come back for her.

Yeah, he’s someone special to her, someone she never wants to lose, and maybe it’s a little different from how she feels about Bodhi, but that doesn’t mean –

_Oh._

Jyn’s eyes go wider and wider as realization dawns on her. Oh, no way. How the hell has she not realized sooner?

“Oh, shit,” she gasps, looking at her brother. “Bodhi. Am I in love with Cassian?”

He gives her a small amused smile. “Welcome to earth, Jyn.”

* * *

**2019 APRIL**

For the next few months, she desperately tries not to think about – her _feelings_ … but she does. It’s all she can think about, really. Now that she knows, it’s impossible to unknow. Cassian smiles at her once in passing, and her heart stops beating for a good three seconds. He brings her a cup of coffee in the morning without asking, just the way she likes it, and she wants to kiss his face off. They end up pressed up against the wall once on a case, hiding from enemies, and she should really be focusing on staying alive, but all she can think about is how warm he is and how nice he smells.

She hopes Cassian doesn’t notice her erratic, lovesick behavior – but he’s been distracted since Colorado so maybe he doesn’t. He’s distant sometimes, staring off into space, getting lost in the middle of a conversation. She knew back in that car that he didn’t tell her the whole story about the name he saw on the reaper’s list, but now she doesn’t know how to bring it up. Normally, she’d just come out and outright ask him, but she’s too scared to get close to him now. To initiate a real conversation. Something she doesn’t want him to know might just slip out if she’s not careful.

They’re both bad at communication.

During one case, she gets thrown across the room because she’s too busy worrying about Cassian’s bleeding head, and ends up breaking her arm. (Cassian’s furious with her later, though she keeps telling him it’s nothing. “ _It could have been worse, Jyn,”_ he retorts with an unhappy expression. Like he hasn’t ever been injured on a case before.) The bottom line is that she’s benched again with Bodhi, while Cassian goes to take care of some vengeful ghost who’s haunting a family two states over.

She doesn’t like it. But – it’s just a ghost, and he’s not an amateur. He’s very capable and skilled. It should be fine.

Yeah, tell that to her traitorous heart.

Jyn sits at the kitchen table with Bodhi, watching as Cassian shoulders his backpack before downing the remainder of his coffee in one go.

“I’m off then,” he tells them.

“See you,” Bodhi tells him, and Jyn just raises her hand in a wave. She doesn’t really trust herself to say anything. But as he turns his back to leave, something wild possesses her, and she calls out to him.

“Cass!” He turns back, waiting. “Be careful.”

The look he gives her is hard to decipher. Exasperated yet fond might be the best way to describe it.

“It’s a ghost, Jyn. Hardly the most dangerous creature out there.”

She shrugs, biting her lip, a little shaky as she admits, “I don’t like the thought of you being dead.”

He doesn’t immediately react to that. He looks at her for a long moment, his expression inscrutable until his eyes soften and his lips twitch. “I appreciate it.”

When he’s gone, Bodhi turns to her and gives her an incredulous look. “You guys are the worst.”

Jyn blinks. “Why?”

“I don’t like the thought of you being dead? Really?”

She rolls her eyes. “Give me a break, Bodhi, you know I’m shit at this stuff.”

“Alright, tell me something.” He drums his fingers on the kitchen table, his eyes curious. “Do you want to tell him how you feel or not?”

“ _Not_.” She pauses. “Maybe. I don’t know. I just…” She groans and doubles over, letting her forehead collide with the table with a soft thud. “I haven’t concentrated on a single thing for two months. It’s terrible. I mean, he’s –”

_Distracting._

_Really fucking hot._

_Someone I’d love to climb like a tree._

_Possibly the love of my life._

_Someone I don’t want to lose._

_My best friend._

All of those things are true but she couldn’t say any of them.

“He’s – _Cassian_. You know? I don’t know what to do, Bodhi. I mean you know me, I’ve never had a serious relationship in my life.”

“But Cassian’s different,” he points out. She spreads out her arms like _duh._

“That’s what I’m afraid of.”

He hums in sympathy. “I’d tell you to just be honest but I don’t think it’s gonna be that easy with you two.”

She glares at him. _Not helpful._

“But just consider it, alright?” he continues. “It might work out alright.”

 _Might_ , she thinks. The bane of her existence, that word.

“And no one night stands,” he adds sternly.

“Hey –” she begins, ready to defend herself and her right to her sexuality, but he cuts her off.

“I don’t care who you have sex with but it’s not gonna fix anything. I know you’re tempted, but you can’t fuck him out of your system.” He gives her a strict look, and she feels like a child chastised by a parent. He knows her too damn well. “Stop using toxic relationships to self-medicate.”

Jyn gasps, offended. Straight for the jugular, huh?

“Hey, you’re no better, mister. I didn’t want to bring this up, but when are you going to tell Luke Skywalker that you have a crush on him, huh?”

Bodhi groans, blushing now that he’s the one put on the spot like that.

“Don’t even start. Sometimes I think he feels the same, you know, giving me signals? Then other times I think I’m just gonna make a big damn fool of myself if I say anything.” He lifts his mug towards her, a humorless smile on his lips. “We’re a mess, aren’t we?”

Jyn laughs, clinking his mug with her own. “Thank you, daddy.”

There’s a lull in the conversation, both of them falling silent as they’re lost in their own heads, entertained by thoughts of their own crushes. Love sucks, huh?

“Are you gonna be okay?” Bodhi asks after a little while, his voice soft, concerned.

She sighs, looking down at the table. It’s not the end of the world, an unrequited crush. It just sucks, and she’s a little sad about it. But yeah, she would be okay. She nods.

“I always am.”

* * *

**2019 SEPTEMBER**

After almost twenty years, Jyn finally comes across her first lead to Orson Krennic on what was supposed to be a simple demon exorcism.

They have the demon trapped and tied to a chair, Cassian reading the Latin words to send this son of a bitch back to hell – and it starts babbling. They always do. Demons, such low-level demons anyway, are cowardly creatures. They enjoy chaos and slaughter more than almost any other monster, but they’d do anything to save their own skin. They’re terrified of hell. If Jyn had a nickel for every time a demon tried to barter with her in exchange for their life, she’d be rich.

So it’s something she expects, and even something she’s learned to tune out. No point in paying attention to a mad man’s desperate ramblings.

Until he mentions that name – _Krennic_. Cassian goes on without pause, but Jyn’s head snaps up and she lays a hand on his arm to stop him. He quietens, shooting her a confused look, but her attention is on the demon.

“What did you say?”

The demon, sensing that it finally has something they want, sits up a little straighter. He’s still breathing hard from the ongoing exorcism. They’re gonna have to start all over again, but this is more important.

“Krennic,” the demon starts, curiosity sparking in his eyes as he sees Jyn tense, “he’d offer a hefty sum for my safe return.”

That’s probably a lie. Jyn doubts someone as high up the command chain as Orson Krennic would care about some lowly demon like this one. But it doesn’t matter – what matters is that he knows Krennic.

“You know where to find him?”

“If you let me go, I might.”

“Tell me what he’s up to first.”

The demon laughs, a low grating sound. “You must think I’m an idiot.”

_Actually…_

Jyn gives Cassian a look, and he begins reading from his book again.

“Alright, alright,” the demon interrupts, desperation in his voice. “He’s on the west coast. Washington, I think.”

“What’s he doing there?”

The demon laughs again, his eyes full of condescension like she’s the stupid one here.

“You hunters are dumber than you look, aren’t you? Have you not noticed that the monsters have been acting up lately? More violent than usual, showing up in places they don’t belong, acting in a way they’re not supposed to?”

_The siren, the doubles, the reaper._

Jyn exchanges a heavy look with Cassian.

“That’s his doing?” she questions, taken aback. “How?”

“Some kind of ancient book – I don’t fucking know. He can influence them somehow.”

The words trigger an old memory in her brain. She was eight, playing with her plush animals when she overheard an argument coming from the kitchen. She remembers walking to the door, curious, her father noticing and sending her back to her room. She remembers that Orson Krennic had looked angry and, to her young mind, scary. She didn’t understand much of the conversation but he was looking for something, and he wanted her father’s help with it. Her father refused. Two days later, they were on the run. Six months later, her mother was dead. _Fuck_.

“Why?” Jyn asks the demon, swallowing back the old memories, the old grief threatening to choke her. “What’s his end goal?”

“What do you fucking think? Power. World domination. He wants to unite all the monsters in the world under his command. Then we can finally take our rightful place at the top of the food chain. You humans have been ruling long enough. It’s our turn.”

 _Fucking hell._ Jyn straightens, taking a deep breath.

“Not gonna happen, buddy.”

She nods to Cassian, letting him know that he can continue where he left off. As he begins the exorcism again, the demon panics, looking around with wild eyes.

“Wait. Wait! I told you everything I know. Let me go!”

Jyn willfully turns away, tuning him out again as he trashes and struggles against his binds. Her mind is racing with a thousand thoughts – Krennic, her father, her mother, how to stop him, how to find him. This is finally her chance for revenge, but more than that… whatever he’s planning, it doesn’t sound good. Orson Krennic just became priority number one on their list.

“Rot in hell, bitch,” the demon spits out before Cassian banishes him for good. Or for a couple of hundred years, at least. If he ever manages to crawl out of hell again, he’ll be some other hunter’s problem.

When he’s gone, it’s silent. The man he was possessing slowly comes back to himself, disoriented and petrified, and Jyn lets Cassian deal with it. She barely hears him give the man a quick explanation, telling him to call an ambulance and have himself checked out, just in case. Barely feels him take her arm and guide her to their car parked outside. He drives them back to their motel room in silence, waiting until they’re inside to speak.

Then he finally turns to her. “Jyn.”

Everything he doesn’t say is packed into that one syllable. _I’m here for you, we’ll figure it out together, we’ll avenge your mother._

He approaches her slowly, touching her arm, then drawing her into a hug when she doesn’t protest. She goes with a small little sigh, letting herself deflate a bit as Cassian’s arms wrap around her, holding her tightly. She fails to be self-conscious over how desperately she clings to him, too upset to even feel elated or nervous by his proximity. But his heartbeat against her ear is soothing, and his arms feel safe. It’s probably as close to comfort as she could get from anyone right now.

They stay like that for a while – to be honest, she loses track of time. Cassian holds her for as long as she needs it, pulling away only when she does. She runs a hand through her messy hair, wiping at her eyes. She wasn’t really crying, but a few tears have escaped.

“We’ll find him,” he tells her, conviction and determination solid in his voice. He’s always there for her, isn’t he? She knows he’s not gonna let her do this on her own either.

Her lips quirk into a short, grateful smile. Then she raises an eyebrow.

“You’re not gonna tell me that revenge doesn’t solve anything?”

“Revenge doesn’t solve anything,” he repeats blankly. “But screw that. Let’s gut the bastard.”

“Cass,” she begins, trailing off. Fuck, she’s so bad at this. But she wants him to know how much he means to her. “Thank you. For being here.”

“Siempre,” he tells her, slipping into his native language for a second. Jyn’s breath catches in her throat at the look he gives her. So beautiful, so… overwhelming. If she was more poetic, she’d say he looks like the muse of a renaissance painter – worthy of being immortalized forever. “Estaré aquí contigo hasta que la muerte me tenga que llevar _._ ”

She frowns a little, shifting on her feet. “What does that mean?”

Cassian smiles but it’s strange, a little bittersweet. “I’ll tell you another time.”

* * *

**2019 NOVEMBER**

Jyn knows something’s wrong when she sees the door of the motel room slightly ajar, light filtering through the crack. Her hand reaches for her gun on instinct, heartbeat picking up, every part of her body on high alert. She listens carefully for sounds coming from inside but hears nothing.

_Fuck._

She takes a deep breath. _Okay, calm down. Don’t panic. Don’t panic,_ she tells herself but her hands shake as she slowly pushes the door open, gun raised.

The first thing she sees is the blood. Words painted on the wall.

_STOP LOOKING OR YOUR BROTHER IS NEXT_

Brain fuzzy, it takes her a second to register the meaning. Krennic… Krennic must have found them.

All she and Cassian have been doing for the past two months is look for him. Called up every contact they had, captured as many demons as they could. Still, they didn’t find a whole lot. Krennic is covering his tracks carefully, but maybe she and Cassian didn’t. Maybe he caught wind of the two of them looking for him – and decided to pay them a visit instead.

She finally notices Cassian on the floor, and for a second, she hears a gunshot and sees her mother falling. It all blends together, her blood staining the carpet red, Cassian’s blood seeping into the floorboards.

_Oh._

Jyn’s legs buckle, her knees hitting the floor. She crawls towards Cassian, gathering him in her arms, her hand pressing against his wound to try and stop the bleeding. The bullet hit him right in the chest. He’s still conscious, but she barely feels relief. _How long has he been here alone…_

“Cassian. Hold on, I –” With her free hand, she fishes her phone out of her pocket, her fingers punching in the numbers. The stupid thing doesn’t want to unlock and she almost screams in frustration. “I’ll call an ambulance, just hold on.”

“Jyn.” His hand reaches out, covering hers, stopping her movements. His voice is sluggish, gasping. It seems painful to even speak. “Don’t bother.”

“Don’t be fucking stupid,” she growls at him. “You’re not done yet. I still need you.”

“I knew… I knew.” He trails off, coughing, his chest heaving with the force of it. She’s not sure what he means but all she can focus on is the little drop of red at the corner of his mouth. _Fuck._

He takes a deep breath, trying to push himself through. “When we first met, I thought you were the most stubborn and annoying woman I’ve ever met. I didn’t think I’d see you again.”

She squeezes her eyes shut, wishing she could stop listening, stop being here. She doesn’t want to hear him talk like this, like he’s saying goodbye, like he’s –

“Everything that happened after that –”

“I don’t regret any of it. Any of it,” she tells him, squeezing his hand tightly. Her eyes are burning with tears, her vision blurry, but all she can see is Cassian. He looks terrible. Losing blood, pale, sweaty, and still – he looks as beautiful as ever. He looks like the love of her life and now it’s too late to tell him.

A sad little smile twists on his lips. “I hope you’ll still feel that way after.”

“Cassian…”

“You have to know that I love you. I love you so much. You… you changed my life.”

He raises his free hand, pushing a strand of hair out of her face, so gently like she’s made of glass. His fingers leave a trail of blood on her cheek.

And she finally breaks down, a sob escaping her mouth as tears spill down her cheeks.

“I love you too,” she admits, her voice barely more than a hoarse whimper. “Please don’t go. Please…”

“It’s okay. It’s gonna be okay,” he tells her, like he’s not the one that’s dying. His voice goes quiet, slow, trailing off. Jyn shakes her head desperately as his eyes close, his hand falling from her face, going limp in her own. A wail caught in her throat, she leans her head on his chest, her fingers grasping at his shirt, unwilling to let go.

_He couldn’t be. He couldn’t be._

A gust of wind sweeps through the room, and a voice speaks up.

“Jyn Erso.”

Jyn lifts her head, staring in shock at the reaper before her. It takes her a second to remember – the one from Colorado, the one they helped out. Is she… is she here for…

“What are you...” she begins, her voice scratchy. She’s unable to finish her sentence.

“I said I owe you,” the reaper tells her. “This one time. Then we’re even.”

Jyn stares up at her, hating the flare of hope sparking in her chest. Hope is Cassian’s thing – she doesn’t think she could bear to have it crushed so brutally.

“Can you bring him back?” she asks, barely keeping her voice from shaking.

“No,” the reaper replies and Jyn’s heart breaks all over again. “But I can turn back time. Just once. If you fail, it’s over.”

Jyn blinks, her mind racing as she processes this new information. If she has a shot at saving Cassian… she’ll do anything.

She stands up, her legs still shaky, her hands bloody. “I won’t fail.”

“Alright then.”

The last thing she sees is the reaper snapping her fingers. When she opens her eyes again, she’s standing in the parking lot of their motel, keys in hand, about to head out for a supply run. She checks her watch. Fifteen minutes before it goes down. If she’s lucky, she can get to Cassian before that.

Or maybe they had been watching, waiting for her to leave to move in.

She curls her hand around her gun in her pocket and jogs back to their motel room. Just in time to see a man dressed in a black suit walk towards their room. Fuck.

With a deep breath, Jyn takes her gun and follows him. Krennic’s henchman clearly doesn’t expect her to be back already which gives her the advantage of surprise. But when she rushes inside, the demon is already pointing his gun at Cassian, and heart in her throat, all she can do is dive in and push him out of the way.

The bullet hits her in the side. Jyn gasps, staggering a bit, her hand automatically pressing against the wound. Cassian shouts her name but has the presence of mind to get his own gun and shoot the demon square in the head. Without wasting time, his arms wrap around her from behind as she goes down, her legs giving out.

Shit. Is _she_ going to die now?

“Jyn!” Cassian’s voice is loud and insistent in her ear, her back against his chest. “Hold on, Jyn, please.”

His hand presses against her wound, covering her own. She’s losing blood fast and she knows it’s not good – but at least Cassian is right here and able to call for help immediately. She might still have a shot at making it, she thinks deliriously. God, she hopes she makes it.

But if not… at least Cassian will be fine.

“I love you,” she tells him, grasping at his hand, trying desperately to lift her head to look him in the eye. She has to tell him, he has to know. _Oh, how the tables have turned._

“Jyn – Fuck, stay with me, Jyn…”

She blacks out for a moment but opens her eyes to the same motel room. Except she’s standing now, over her own body and Cassian, watching as he pushes her hair out of her eyes and begs her to stay with him.

The reaper stands in front of her with an expression that says, _‘I told you you’d only have one shot at this.’_

But she hasn’t failed. She hasn’t failed Cassian. He’ll live.

“I’m not ready,” she tells the reaper, her voice choked with unshed tears. She’s not afraid of death, not really, but…

She wants more time. She wants… She wants to _stay_. With Cassian. With Bodhi.

With her family.

“Oh, Jyn,” the reaper says, and the smile on her face is kinder than Jyn’s ever seen her. “It’s not so bad, I promise.”

Then everything goes black again.

* * *

**2019 DECEMBER**

Christmas is a quiet affair that year. Jyn is released two weeks before the holidays and is told to take it easy. Krennic is still out there, possibly hunting them to finish what he started. And Cassian… Jyn can’t really look Cassian in the eye anymore.

It’s not that he didn’t say it back. He said it the first time, when _he_ was the one dying – and that’s the problem. She can’t forget the sound of his last breath in her ear.

Nor can he, it seems, forget _her_ dying in his arms.

What a fucked up mess of a pair they are.

Not for the first time, she thinks it would be smarter to let it go and stick to what she knows. The calm, comfortable safety of loneliness.

Except she’s so tired of being safe. And that’s the problem. She can’t bring herself to make a decision one way or the other, stuck in a slow torturous limbo.

Bodhi sighs, giving her a stern look when she continues sitting at the kitchen table, stirring her hot cup of tea and staring off into nothing.

“What’s it gonna take you two to sort it out?” he asks, eyebrows raised.

Her eyes flutter closed, a weary sigh on her lips. “ _Don’t_ , Bodhi.”

“I’m just asking. I’m tired of seeing you like this.”

“He knew he was gonna die,” she bursts out, anger bubbling to the surface. “And he didn’t tell me.”

That’s something she quickly figured out too. The name Cassian saw on the reaper’s list back in Colorado – it hadn’t belonged to an old acquittance. It had been his own.

And he kept that to himself for half a year.

“I know but… he didn’t want to hurt you. Would you have told him?” Bodhi asks pointedly.

“Of course!” Jyn answers immediately, but it’s an automatic response. Really, she has no idea what she would have done. She knows it fucked him up too – knowing you’re gonna die soon can’t be easy. She just wishes… she doesn’t know. That he didn’t lie down and give up? That he fought against his destiny? Fought to stay with her?

“He misses you,” Bodhi says, and her heart skips a beat.

“He said that?” she wonders, chewing on her lip.

“He didn’t have to. Just like you don’t have to say that you miss him too. I can tell.”

Jyn looks down at the table, watching the patterns in the wood. Her voice is quiet, vulnerable when she speaks.

“I don’t know if I… if I can survive losing him. I mean is it worth it? Love?”

“It’s always worth it,” comes the answer, but it’s not Bodhi. Jyn turns around, her breath leaving her chest in a whoosh as she comes face to face with Cassian.

“Cassian…”

“Can we talk?” He throws a meaningful look at Bodhi. “Alone?”

Bodhi stands up, giving her shoulder a squeeze as he passes. When he’s gone, Jyn turns to Cassian and motions for him to sit down.

“You’ve been avoiding me,” she remarks idly, somewhat surprised that he’s here now. Well, someone had to break the ice at some point, and Cassian’s always been the more mature of the two of them.

“You too,” he answers. Which, yeah, fair enough.

She takes a deep breath before she dives in. _Time to put on big girl panties and deal with this, Jyn._

“In this line of work, we don’t have a lot of people. You and Bodhi, you’re pretty much all I have. And then you died. Literally died. I was scared.” She pauses, her breath a little shaky. “I _am_ scared.”

“You were dying,” Cassian points out, and she can tell it haunts him to think about it. “I’m scared too. But I don’t want to let that fear rule me.”

He reaches out, his hand tentatively covering hers on the table. When she doesn’t pull away, he laces their fingers together. Jyn stares at their hands, her heartbeat in her throat, her breathing a little fast. Fuck, it feels right. She wants to pull him closer, pull him into her arms and hold him, kiss him and protect him.

“This is not gonna end well,” she warns, a little breathy. She’s one second away from giving in and kissing the hell out of him. It’s Christmas. She’s tired of being miserable.

Cassian gives her a small little smile, warm and affectionate. One that makes her toes curl with want.

“You don’t know that.”

Hunters don’t really get happy endings, she does know that. Despite that, she leans in and kisses him anyway. And she pretty much forgets about all her worries then. One of his hands slides around her waist, the other warm on her back, burning a hole through her shirt. She wants him closer, pressed against her, all around her.

“Fuck, Jyn,” he says when she slips her hand into his hair and tugs.

She laughs against his mouth. “Say that again, please?”

The look he gives her sets her blood boiling, the want in her stomach burning. “Since you asked so nicely.”

* * *

In bed, Jyn tells him she loves him again, holding nothing back – if she’s gonna go in, she’s gonna go _all_ _in_. He tells her the same, in English and in Spanish, and with his touch as much as his words. Falling asleep in his arms after they’ve made love is the closest to peace she’s ever felt.

The next day Chirrut and Baze arrive with Kaia for their annual Christmas visit, and even Kay drops by, though not without his snarky comments aimed at Jyn – especially now that he sees her holding Cassian’s hand as they sit together on the couch.

Jyn doesn’t really care – she’s happy and she has her family and it’s Christmas – but she does return Kay’s snide remarks with her own because that’s just how they are.

Bodhi is, of course, delighted, grinning at her and Cassian like a proud mother hen.

“I’m so happy for you guys. I knew you’d get along from the moment you met.”

“He has been nothing but a pain in my ass ever since,” Jyn comments drily, the affection still clear in her voice.

“Oh, I’m the pain in your ass?” Cassian questions, looking down at her as she sits on his lap, his arm around her waist. “Not the other way around?”

Jyn glares at him, and his lips quirk up.

“You’re so grumpy. It’s cute.”

He presses a kiss to her cheek, and she kinda blushes, kinda wants to punch him.

“No,” Jyn frowns and Bodhi laughs. Cassian’s smile is small but practically blinding.

She’s pretty sure she doesn’t need more than this right here forever.

“Don’t pretend you’re not just as sappy,” Cassian whispers just to her.

“You’re so annoying,” she responds, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. “Just kiss me already.”

He obeys, kissing her long and slow, almost making her forget where they are. She feels a little dizzy when he pulls away, her mind pleasantly sluggish. He gives her another quick kiss before his face turns serious, a little pensive.

“You know it’s not over, right? Krennic’s still out there, he’s still planning… whatever the hell he’s planning.”

“I know.” Jyn nods, her tone a little heavier. “But we’ll deal with it.” She takes his hand, squeezing it. “Together.”

They can defeat Krennic together, she believes that. They can do anything together.

Maybe she’s starting to believe in that happy ending after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally, I wanted to end this fic in 2020 December, aka now, but I didn’t want to make too big jumps in time, and I couldn’t really drag out the story any longer. And I definitely wanted to start it in 2016 December because of the movie. So we end in 2019 December instead. Maybe that’s for the best. *squints at 2020 disdainfully*
> 
> Honestly though, I could definitely have done more with the Krennic storyline, but this was getting so damn long, I was just like... I don't have the energy, just let them be happy. Maybe someday I could write a shorter follow-up that deals with Krennic but no promises.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed! I know it's a pretty unusual au so thanks for reading <3 And as always, you can find me on [tumblr](https://andorerso.tumblr.com/)


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